One-carbon metabolism genes tied to edematous malnutrition in Jamaican and Malawian children
Genetic variation in one-carbon metabolism genes was associated with edematous severe acute malnutrition in children from Jamaica and Malawi, the authors of a Nature Communications study report. The cause of the condition remains unclear. Six loci showed evidence of association. Four of them, AHCYL1, PRICKLE2, GABBR2 and PLD2, relate to homocysteine or folate metabolism. Population differences were linked to a shared East African ancestry and distinct signatures of selection. The work combined cell-free DNA with admixture and population-genetic analyses.
Edematous malnutrition remains a major cause of death among children under five, and nobody has pinned down why it develops. The findings give researchers ancestry-linked genetic risk and homocysteine-related pathways to investigate.
Written by the Genomes desk from the primary source cited and linked above and checked against it. Research use only; not medical advice. Corrections: [email protected].