A summary of the biomarker GWAS analysis.

PurposeStunting is known to be heavily influenced by environmental factors, so the genetic contribution has received little attention. Here we report an exploration of genetic influences in stunted Zambian children with environmental enteropathy.MethodChildren with stunting (LAZ -1) from the same community as controls. Blood and stool samples were taken to measure biomarkers of intestinal inflammation, epithelial damage, and microbial translocation. Single nucleotide polymorphism array genotyping was carried out on saliva samples using the H3Africa consortium array.ResultsGenome wide associations were analysed in 117 cases and 41 controls. While no significant associations with stunting were observed at P-8, likely due to the small sample size, interesting associations were observed at lower thresholds. SNPs associated with stunting were in genomic regions known to modulate neuronal differentiation and fatty acid biosynthesis. SNPs associated with increased microbial translocation were associated with non-integrin membrane ECM interactions, tight junctions, hemostasis, and G-alpha signalling events. SNPs associated with increased inflammation were associated with, ECM interactions, purine metabolism, axon guidance, and cell motility. SNPs negatively associated with inflammation overlapped genes involved in semaphoring interactions. We explored the existing coeliac disease risk HLA genotypes and found present: DQ2.5 (7.5%), DQ8 (3.5%) and DQ2.2 (3.8%); however, no children were positive for coeliac antibodies. We detected HLA-DRB:1301 and HLA-C:1802 with high odds ratios and PConclusionGenetic variations associated with stunting and the enteropathy underlying it, include variants associated with multiple pathways relating to gene expression, glycosylation, nerve signalling, and sensing of the nutritional and microbiological milieu.