GWAS of 89,283 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with self-reporting of being a morning person - PubMed (original) (raw)

GWAS of 89,283 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with self-reporting of being a morning person

Youna Hu et al. Nat Commun. 2016.

Abstract

Circadian rhythms are a nearly universal feature of living organisms and affect almost every biological process. Our innate preference for mornings or evenings is determined by the phase of our circadian rhythms. We conduct a genome-wide association analysis of self-reported morningness, followed by analyses of biological pathways and related phenotypes. We identify 15 significantly associated loci, including seven near established circadian genes (rs12736689 near RGS16, P=7.0 × 10(-18); rs9479402 near VIP, P=3.9 × 10(-11); rs55694368 near PER2, P=2.6 × 10(-9); rs35833281 near HCRTR2, P=3.7 × 10(-9); rs11545787 near RASD1, P=1.4 × 10(-8); rs11121022 near PER3, P=2.0 × 10(-8); rs9565309 near FBXL3, P=3.5 × 10(-8). Circadian and phototransduction pathways are enriched in our results. Morningness is associated with insomnia and other sleep phenotypes; and is associated with body mass index and depression but we did not find evidence for a causal relationship in our Mendelian randomization analysis. Our findings reinforce current understanding of circadian biology and will guide future studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors are current or former employees of and own stock or stock options in 23andMe, Inc.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1. Manhattan plot of the GWAS of being a morning person.

The grey line corresponds to _P_=5.0 × 10−8, and the results above this threshold are shown in red. Gene labels are annotated as the nearby genes to the significant SNPs.

Comment in

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Kleitman N. Sleep and Wakefulness as Alternating Phases in the Cycle of Existence. xii 638 p. Univ. of Chicago (1939).
    1. Horne J. A. & Ostberg O. A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms. Int. J. Chronobiol. 4, 97–110 (1976). - PubMed
    1. Welsh D. K., Takahashi J. S. & Kay S. A. Suprachiasmatic nucleus: cell autonomy and network properties. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 72, 551–577 (2010). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zisapel N. Circadian rhythm sleep disorders: pathophysiology and potential approaches to management. CNS Drugs 15, 311–328 (2001). - PubMed
    1. Roenneberg T., Allebrandt K. V., Merrow M. & Vetter C. Social jetlag and obesity. Curr. Biol. 22, 939–943 (2012). - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources