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Updated: May 13, 2025

Targeted Next-generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics Pipeline to Evaluate Genetic Determinants of Constitutional Disease
Published on: April 4, 2018
Genetics of Restless Legs Syndrome: Insights from Genome-Wide Association Studies
1Institute of Neurogenomics, Computational Health Department, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, Neuherberg 85764, Germany; Institute of Human Genetics, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of common and low-frequency variants have discovered 164 genetic risk loci for restless legs syndrome (RLS) in adult populations of European ancestry. Sex-specific GWAS meta-analyses revealed largely overlapping genetic risk profiles for women and men and are in line with a nongenetic risk factor driving the higher prevalence seen in women. Genetic investigations of pediatric RLS are limited, but the likely inclusion of early-onset cases in GWAS of adult populations and the similar phenotypic presentation of both forms suggest that genetic risk variants identified in adult populations transfer to pediatric RLS.
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