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Evolutionary Biology of Parasitism
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2023
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
A second possibility whereby parasites might promote host speciation is that they may influence the distribution of a host gene that has multiple effects, say one that influences immune function and that also affects mate choice (Figure 7.43). This situation of multiple effects caused by the same gene is called pleiotropy.
Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Polygenic Disorders
Published in Carlos Simón, Carmen Rubio, Handbook of Genetic Diagnostic Technologies in Reproductive Medicine, 2022
Nathan R. Treff, Diego Marin, Laurent C. A. M. Tellier
Pleiotropy, or the association of a genetic variant with multiple phenotypes, is an important consideration in PGT, which hitherto has not been addressed in the application of PGT. With the advent of population biobanks, this concern is now being addressed for the first time, by evaluating the impact of selection between siblings upon multiple phenotypes concurrently. It has been demonstrated, in over 11,000 adult sibling pairs with known disease status, that ranking based on a composite polygenic risk score, known as a genomic index, reduces incidence on a panel of diseases concurrently, and in most disease instances reduces disease prevalence better than selection against that same disease individually (27). Continued research can be expected to further elucidate this positive impact of pleiotropy upon the efficacy of PGT for multiple concurrent risks.
The application of new technologies to improve literacy among the general public and to promote informed decisions in genomics
Published in Ulrik Kihlbom, Mats G. Hansson, Silke Schicktanz, Ethical, Social and Psychological Impacts of Genomic Risk Communication, 2020
Serena Oliveri, Renato Mainetti, Ilaria Cutica, Alessandra Gorini, Gabriella Pravettoni
Unfortunately, considering the increasing complexity of genetic data, reaching this objective is not so easy. The promise of personalized medicine is that it will generate personalized therapies, but it will also generate hard-to-understand personalized risk and benefit information. In particular, there are three main critical concepts that make genetics so complex. The first is called ‘pleiotropy’ and indicates that each gene contributes to many different traits. The second refers to the fact that each trait is usually the result of the expression of different genes, while the third refers to the evidence that the effect of each genetic variant is related to the characteristics of the environment in which it manifests itself. The situation is further complicated by the fact that there are three different forms of genetic testing: diagnostic, carrier and predictive testing. Diagnostic testing involves identifying current disease states and includes prenatal and new-born screening. Carrier testing determines if an individual carries a certain genetic trait. Finally, predictive testing is used to determine whether a person, who is usually healthy and maybe with a positive family history for a certain disease, has a genetic mutation that will lead to a late-onset disorder.
Elevated Psychiatric Risk in Same-Sex Married Individuals: Large-scale Evidence is Consistent with a Substantial Role of Familial Common Causes
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2023
Where should research on this topic go, moving forward? There is evidence that both minority stress and common cause explanations contribute to elevated psychiatric risk in LGB individuals, so clearly these explanations should be further investigated. There is still much that is unclear in both cases. What aspects of minority stress are most damaging to mental health, and in what ways? Are there protective factors? With regard to common causes, what genetic variants are involved, and through what pathways do they have their pleiotropic effects? Are childhood experiences really causal of LGB orientation and psychiatric risk (and if so, by what mechanisms) or is the association due to a more complex causal story? How do the effects of genes, childhood environment, and minority stress interact? These questions will be difficult to address, but a key step will be to include questions about childhood experiences and minority stress in large-scale genetically informed studies so that these factors can be looked at simultaneously and interactions and confounds can be more easily identified and addressed.
Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing for “Non-Medical” Traits: Ensuring Consistency in Ethical Decision-Making
Published in The American Journal of Bioethics, 2023
Hilary Bowman-Smart, Christopher Gyngell, Cara Mand, David J. Amor, Martin B. Delatycki, Julian Savulescu
Another practical problem with the use of polygenic scores for screening purposes is that through the process of pleiotropy—where one gene or set of genes affects multiple traits—a polygenic score for one trait may also predict another. This may, for example, mean that a polygenic score for schizophrenia is also associated with other related traits such as anxiety (Zheutlin et al. 2019), or a polygenic score for epilepsy being associated with neuroticism-related personality traits (Leu et al. 2020). When it comes to non-medical traits, we might also consider that polygenic scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are also associated with creativity (Power et al. 2015; Greenwood 2020). Thus selecting against schizophrenia may decrease the probability of creativity. Of course, these statements are not necessarily true and are dependent on, as previously stated, the establishment of a causal relationship between the gene variants and the traits in question, and the direction of that causal relationship. However, the key issue is that when screening a fetus for a polygenic score for height or cognitive ability, parents may also be inadvertently selecting against other traits, which may in fact be desirable to them and beneficial to the future child.
Rosuvastatin exposure in female Wistar rats alters uterine contractility and do not show evident (anti)estrogenic effects
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Jorge Willian Franco de Barros, Patrícia Villela e Silva, Gustavo Venâncio da Silva, Katiussia Pinho da Silva, Cibele dos Santos Borges, André Mueller, Lethícia Valencise, André Sampaio Pupo, Wilma De Grava Kempinas
Additionally, the use of statins is rising as a function of their beneficial effects in the treatment of many pathological conditions, through secondary pathways other than the already known lipid-modifying action (Ferri and Corsini 2014, Cortese et al. 2016). These, known as ‘pleiotropic effects’ are associated with endothelial protection, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and prevention or treatment of several cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (Cortese et al. 2016). The mechanism of statins pleiotropic effects are related to the inhibition of the synthesis of other products derived from the mevalonate pathway, called isoprenoids, and are associated with different cellular processes, which include post-translational modifications of proteins involved in cellular signaling, proliferation, migration, and differentiation (Lee et al. 2007, Eisa-Beygi et al. 2014, Alarcon and Marikawa 2016, Karlic and Varga 2019).