Unveiling case-control relationships in designing a simple and powerful method for detecting gene-gene interactions.

TitleUnveiling case-control relationships in designing a simple and powerful method for detecting gene-gene interactions.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsCanela-Xandri, Oriol, Julià Antonio, Gelpí Josep-Lluis, and Marsal Sara
JournalGenet Epidemiol
Volume36
Pagination710-6
Date Published2012 Nov
ISSN1098-2272
KeywordsCase-Control Studies, Data Interpretation, Epistasis, Genetic, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Models, Multifactorial Inheritance, Software, Statistical
Abstract

The detection of gene-gene interactions (i.e., epistasis) in the human genome is becoming decisive for the complete characterization of the genetic factors associated with complex binary traits. Despite the fact that many methods have been developed to address this challenging issue, their performance still remains insufficient. We will show how case and control groups store complementary information regarding interactions, and the use of this fundamental property in the design of a new, rapid, and highly powerful epistasis analysis method. Unlike previous approaches where statistical methods are tested over a very limited range of situations, we have performed an exhaustive evaluation of the power of our new method. To this end, we also propose a more comprehensive interpretation of epistasis in which genotype interactions may be of risk, protective, or neutral. In this extended view of genetic interactions, we demonstrate that our method has superior performance than existing approaches, thus, providing a highly powerful tool for the identification of gene-gene interactions associated with binary traits.

DOI10.1002/gepi.21665