On January 24th and 25th, 2008, HuGENet™ hosted a HuGENet Workshop, “HuGE Networks, Genome-Wide Association Studies, and the Knowledge Base on Genetic Variation and Human Health”, at the CDC Global Communications Center in Atlanta, GA. Participants discussed approaches for developing the knowledge base on genetic variation and human health, focusing on “field synopses” that summarize genetic associations with specific diseases and a proposal for an online encyclopedia. Click here to read more about this workshop.

A correspondence on the HuGE Navigator,  a knowledge base developed by HuGENet™ to assist researchers working in the field of Human Genome Epidemiology, was published in the February issue of Nature Genetics. Click here  to read this article.

Cumulative Evidence of Genetic Associations
The following systematic reviews examined the epidemiologic evidence between genes and diseases using a quantitative approach and were added to PubMed in February

• HuGE Reviews
  • Association study between interleukin 1 beta gene and epileptic disorders: a HuGE review and meta-analysis.
    
    
  • Genetic risk factors for placental abruption: A HuGE review and meta-analysis.
    
    
  • Glutathione S-Transferase M1 (GSTM1) polymorphisms and lung cancer: A
    literature-based systematic HuGE review and meta-Analysis.
    
    
  • One new HuGE Review was proposed in February:
    Polymorphisms of Glutathione-S-transferase genes and asthma
    John Henderson, Raquel Granell, Sue Ring, Seif Shaheen, Cosetta Minelli, Roger Newson, John W Holloway, and Matthew Rose-Zerilli
    (University of Bristol, Imperial College London, University of Southampton)
    
    
  • List of HuGE Review topics under development

• Other Systematic Reviews
  • Comprehensive analysis of DNA repair gene variants and risk of meningioma.
    
    
  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism is correlated to diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis.
    
    
  • XPC polymorphisms play a role in tissue-specific carcinogenesis: a meta-analysis.
    
    
  • Autism and serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
    
    
  • The Ser9Gly polymorphism of the dopamine D3 receptor gene and risk of schizophrenia: An association study and a large meta-analysis.
    
    
  • Meta-analysis of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 polymorphisms in Latin American patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
    
    
  • A meta-analysis of European and Asian cohorts reveals a global role of a functional SNP in the 5' UTR of GDF5 with osteoarthritis susceptibility.
    
    
  • LDL-cholesterol concentrations: a genome-wide association study.
    
    
  • Association study of three polymorphisms in the dopamine D2 receptor gene and schizophrenia in the Russian population.
    
    
  • A mitochondrial DNA variant at position 16189 is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Asians.
    
    
  • Association of the beta(3)-adrenergic receptor Trp64Arg polymorphism with common metabolic traits: Studies of 7605 middle-aged white people.

Search for HuGE Reviews in the HuGE Navigator
Search for systematic reviews in the HuGE Navigator

Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAs)
The following genome wide association studies were added to PubMed in March:

• Structural genomic variation in ischemic stroke.

• Common sequence variants on 2p15 and Xp11.22 confer susceptibility to prostate cancer.

• Multiple newly identified loci associated with prostate cancer susceptibility.

• Multiple loci identified in a genome-wide association study of prostate cancer.

• LDL-cholesterol concentrations: a genome-wide association study.

• A genome-wide association scan for asthma in a general Australian population.

• On the use of general control samples for genome-wide association studies: genetic matching highlights causal variants.

• Three genome-wide association studies and a linkage analysis identify HERC2 as a human iris color gene.

• Genome-wide association study shows BCL11A associated with persistent fetal hemoglobin and amelioration of the phenotype of beta-thalassemia.
  

Search for genome wide association studies in the HuGE Navigator 

The following publications were written by HuGENet™ collaborators and were added to PubMed in February:

• A critical appraisal of the scientific basis of commercial genomic profiles used to assess health risks and personalize health interventions.

• A navigator for human genome epidemiology.

View all HuGENet™ Publications

As of February 29, 2008, the HuGE Navigator  contains 32,803 research studies, referencing 3,316 genes,and 1,935 health outcomes/diseases. Both epidemiologic studies and review articles can be found in the database which includes 71 HuGE Reviews and 693 meta-analyses.

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