Multiancestry Genome-Wide Association Study of Early Childhood Caries

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Oral Health
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Early childhood caries (ECC) is a prevalent disease with known environmental and behavioral influences.
• Genetic risk loci for ECC remain largely undefined, creating a knowledge gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic risk loci for ECC in preschool-aged children.
• To estimate heritability and explore gene-environment interactions in ECC etiology.

Main Methods:

• A GWAS was performed on 6,103 U.S. preschool-aged children using the dmfs index for ECC.
• Heritability, concordance rates, and gene/gene-environment effects were estimated.
• Analyses were stratified by sex, water fluoride, and dietary sugar.

Main Results:

• Common genetic variants explained 24% of ECC phenotypic variance.
• Twenty-one novel genome-wide significant loci and one significant gene (TAAR6) associated with ECC were identified.
• The taste receptor activity gene set showed a strong association with ECC.

Conclusions:

• This study contributes novel genetic loci to the understanding of ECC.
• Identified genes and pathways offer candidates for future mechanistic research.
• Accounting for sex and environmental exposures is crucial in genetic studies of ECC.