Genetic variation in candidate genes like the HMGA2 gene in the extremely tall

Genetic variation in several candidate genes has been associated with short stature. Recently, a high-mobility group A2 (HMGA2) gene SNP has been robustly associated with height in the general population. Only few have attempted to study these genes in extremely tall stature. We therefore studied common genetic variation in candidate genes for height in extremely tall Dutch.

We included 116 constitutionally tall cases with height >2 SD and 103 controls with normally distributed height <2 SD. We genotyped 10 common polymorphisms previously associated with height variation.

The HMGA2 gene SNP was significantly associated with tall stature. Using a logistic regression model, we calculated that carrying the HMGA2 (rs1042725) C allele significantly increased the odds of being tall (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.02-2.28; p = 0.03). In addition, controls with one or two copies of the C allele were significantly taller than controls carrying the TT genotype [TC: mean (SD) +0.61 (0.21) SDS; p = 0.004, and CC: +0.77 (0.25) SDS; p = 0.003].

Our study shows that a common polymorphism in the HMGA2 gene is not only associated with height variation in the general population but also plays an important role in one of the extremes of the height distribution.