Mj Mosher

Low plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Sexual dimorphism, however, is widely reported in both HDL-C and CVD, with the underlying explanations of these sexual differences not fully understood. HDL-C is a complex trait influenced by both genes and dietary factors. Here we examine evidence for a sex-specific effect of APOE and the macronutrient carbohydrate on HDL-C, triglycerides (TG) and apoprotein A-1 (ApoA-1) in a sample of 326 male and 423 female participants of the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS). Using general estimating equations in SAS to account for kinship correlations, stratifying by sex, and adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI) and SHS center, we examine the relationship between APOE genotype and carbohydrate intake on circulating levels of HDL-C, TG, and ApoA-1 through a series of carbohydrate-by-sex interactions and stratified analyses. APOE-by-carbohydrate intake shows sign...

We examined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in six Mennonite communities from Kansas (Goessel, Lone Tree, Garden View, Meridian, and Garden City) and Nebraska (Henderson) to determine their genetic structure and its relationship to population history. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup and haplotype information were obtained from blood samples from 118 individuals. Molecular genetic variation was analyzed using diversity measures, neutrality test statistics, spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA), and ...

Over the last 35 years, researchers from the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology at the University of Kansas have been working with Mennonite communities to better understand evolutionary patterns of fission-fusion in relationship to their genetic history and population structure. In this study, short tandem repeat (STR) markers from the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) provided increased resolution of the molecular population structure for these groups. NRY is known to be informative for determining paternal genetic ancestral patterns in recently derived human populations. Mennonites represent a branch of the Anabaptist movement that began in northern and central Europe in the 16th century and maintain a well-documented migration and genealogical history. Provided this historical information, we investigated the genetic relationship of 15 NRY STR loci within five Mennonite communities from Kansas (Goessel, Lone Tree, Garden View, and Meridian) and Nebraska (Henders...

Apoproteins (also known as apolipoproteins) have been studied extensively because of their role in lipid transport, association between specific genotypes and elevated serum lipid levels, and increased risk of heart disease. There is considerable genetic variation in the geographic distributions of these markers, with a north-south cline of the APOE*4 allele observed in Europe by Lucotte et al. ((1997) Hum Biol 69:253-262). This study compares the frequencies of seven APO (APOA1 � 75 bp, APOA1 þ83 bp, APOB Ins/Del, APOB XbaI, APOC3 SstI, and APOE) and LPL loci in Mennonite populations from Kansas and Nebraska. In total, 277 individuals were sampled from Goessel, Meridian, Garden View, and Lone Tree in 2002-2004. In addition, DNA samples that were collected in 1981 from Henderson, Nebraska, were genotyped for the seven APO and LPL loci. Of the seven APO and LPL loci tested, only one locus, APOB XbaI, departed significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with an unexpected excess of...

Over the last 35 years, researchers from the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology at the University of Kansas have been working with Mennonite communities to better understand evolutionary patterns of fission-fusion in relationship to their genetic history and population structure. In this study, short tandem repeat (STR) markers from the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) provided increased resolution of the molecular population structure for these groups. NRY is known to be informative for determining paternal genetic ancestral patterns in recently derived human populations. Mennonites represent a branch of the Anabaptist movement that began in northern and central Europe in the 16th century and maintain a well-documented migration and genealogical history. Provided this historical information, we investigated the genetic relationship of 15 NRY STR loci within five Mennonite communities from Kansas (Goessel, Lone Tree, Garden View, and Meridian) and Nebraska (Henderson). We sought to determine if patterns of fission/fusion along familial lines persisted with paternal genetic information as evidenced through other classical genetic polymorphisms and molecular markers. NRY haplotype information was obtained for 94 individuals, and genetic variation was analyzed and compared across the five study populations and comparative Anabaptist and European populations. NRY haplogroups were assigned using a Bayesian allele frequency approach with 14 STR loci. A total of 92 NRY haplotypes were detected, with none shared across these communities. The most prevalent NRY haplogroup was R1b, which occurred in 56% of the entire sample. Eight additional NRY haplogroups (E1b1b, G2a, I1, I2, J2a1, L, Q, and R1a) were detected in smaller frequencies. Principal component analysis of NRY data, in contrast to mitochondrial DNA data, displayed no patterns of population subdivision of these congregations into communities. These NRY genetic profiles provide additional information regarding the recent migratory history of Mennonite communities and additional evidence for fission along paternal lines after migration to the United States.

Pooled DNA samples have been used in association studies of Mendelian disease genes. This method involves combining equal quantities of DNA from patients and control subjects into separate pools and comparing the pools for distributions of genetic markers. In this study identical quantities of DNA from 300 individuals representing 6 populations were pooled and amplified for 296 loci using the touchdown polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of pooled DNA markers in the reconstruction of the genetic structure of human populations. The populations sampled included Chuvash, Buryats, Kizhi, Native Americans, South Africans, and New York City whites. To test the accuracy of the allele-frequency distributions, we genotyped the Buryats and New York samples individually for six microsatellite markers and compared their frequencies to the allele frequencies derived from the electropherogram peak heights for the pooled DNA, producing a correlation of 0.9811 with a variance of less than 0.04. Two-dimensional scaling of genetic distances among the six populations produced clusters that reflected known historical relationships. A distance matrix was created using all 296 loci, and matrices based on individual chromosomes were correlated against the total matrix. As expected, the largest chromosomes had the highest correlations with the total matrix, whereas one of the smallest chromosomes, chromosome 22, had the lowest correlation and differed most from the combined STR distance matrix.

Apoproteins (also known as apolipoproteins) have been studied extensively because of their role in lipid transport, association between specific genotypes and elevated serum lipid levels, and increased risk of heart disease. There is considerable genetic variation in the geographic distributions of these markers, with a north-south cline of the APOE*4 allele observed in Europe by Lucotte et al. ([1997] Hum Biol 69:253–262). This study compares the frequencies of seven APO (APOA1 −75 bp, APOA1 +83 bp, APOB Ins/Del, APOB XbaI, APOC3 SstI, and APOE) and LPL loci in Mennonite populations from Kansas and Nebraska. In total, 277 individuals were sampled from Goessel, Meridian, Garden View, and Lone Tree in 2002–2004. In addition, DNA samples that were collected in 1981 from Henderson, Nebraska, were genotyped for the seven APO and LPL loci. Of the seven APO and LPL loci tested, only one locus, APOB XbaI, departed significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with an unexpected excess of observed heterozygotes. The frequencies of the several APO loci are unique among the Mennonites, separating them from other European populations. A bidimensional scaling representation of Reynold's coancestry distances based on allelic frequencies of the seven APO and LPL markers in five Mennonite congregations fails to represent schematically the known patterns of fission. It is unclear whether the observed patterns are due to selection operating on these loci or whether genetic drift, small populations sizes, or a lack of statistical power of these biallelic loci distort the observed genetic relationship among congregations. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:593–600, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc..

Apoproteins (also known as apolipoproteins) have been studied extensively because of their role in lipid transport, association between specific genotypes and elevated serum lipid levels, and increased risk of heart disease. There is considerable genetic variation in the geographic distributions of these markers, with a north-south cline of the APOE*4 allele observed in Europe by Lucotte et al. ((1997) Hum Biol 69:253-262). This study compares the frequencies of seven APO (APOA1 � 75 bp, APOA1 þ83 bp, APOB Ins/Del, APOB XbaI, APOC3 SstI, and APOE) and LPL loci in Mennonite populations from Kansas and Nebraska. In total, 277 individuals were sampled from Goessel, Meridian, Garden View, and Lone Tree in 2002-2004. In addition, DNA samples that were collected in 1981 from Henderson, Nebraska, were genotyped for the seven APO and LPL loci. Of the seven APO and LPL loci tested, only one locus, APOB XbaI, departed significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with an unexpected excess of observed heterozygotes. The frequencies of the several APO loci are unique among the Mennonites, separating them from other European populations. A bidimensional scaling repre- sentation of Reynold's coancestry distances based on allelic frequencies of the seven APO and LPL markers in five Mennonite congregations fails to represent schematically the known pat- terns of fission. It is unclear whether the observed patterns are due to selection operating on these loci or whether genetic drift, small populations sizes, or a lack of statistical power of these biallelic loci distort the observed genetic relationship among congregations. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17:593-600,

We examined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in six Mennonite communities from Kansas (Goessel, Lone Tree, Garden View, Meridian, and Garden City) and Nebraska (Henderson) to determine their genetic structure and its relationship to population history. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup and haplotype information were obtained from blood samples from 118 individuals. Molecular genetic variation was analyzed using diversity measures, neutrality test statistics, spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA), and multidimensional scaling plots. The Mennonite samples exhibited eight western European mtDNA haplogroups: H, HV0, I, J, K, T, U, and X. Comparable to other populations of European descent, haplogroup H was the most frequent in all six communities and ranged from 35% in Lone Tree to 75% in Old Order Mennonites from Garden City. Fifty-eight different mtDNA haplotypes were found in these groups with only one shared among all six populations. Haplotype diversities varied from 0.81 in Goessel to 0.96 in Henderson and Garden View. Multivariate statistical analysis of these populations indicates that these Anabaptist communities formed new congregations by fissioning along familial lines. Population subdivision of these communities into congregations supports previously documented patterns of fission-fusion. These haploid molecular data provide a more accurate reflection of biological relationships between midwestern Mennonite communities than evidence based on classical genetic markers.

Wheat consumption is increasing worldwide and also increasing is the frequency of celiac disease (CeD), a pathological response to wheat protein (gluten) in genetically susceptible individuals. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is another, less studied wheat-induced pathology. The treatment for both is a gluten-free diet (GFD). More individuals choose the diet than predicted by the epidemiological 1-2% prevalence. A preliminary survey by questionnaire asked members and attendees of the local gluten information group (GIG) meetings and functions about their diagnostic experiences and symptom levels in order understand the increased demand for gluten-free foods. Same-aged and -sex friends participated as a comparative “control”. Mixed methods were used including content analyses of prose narratives and independent and paired t tests of symptom levels measured with Likert scales. This convenience sample, surveyed in 2011-2012, is mostly female (54 F, 5 M) with an average age of 54.6 ± 2.0 years. Most participants consulted medical professionals with mean time to diagnosis of 7 years determined mostly from “classic” presenting symptoms. Negative biopsies or blood tests and atypical symptoms that overlap other conditions delayed diagnosis. There were 43 and 16 participants with CeD and NCGS, respectively differing little in symptom levels. Self-diagnosis and use of naturopaths account for some of the “excess” individuals. General practitioners should be encouraged to get additional nutrition training and to discuss with patients dietary choices that support wellness and minimize the risk for pathological immune responses. Patients with CeD particularly need support and follow-up in the transition to a GFD.