Heritability of Retinal Vascular Fractals: A Twin Study
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Heritability of Retinal Vascular Fractals : A Twin Study. / Vergmann, Anna Stage; Broe, Rebecca; Kessel, Line; Hougaard, Jesper Leth; Möller, Sören; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm; Larsen, Michael; Munch, Inger Christine; Grauslund, Jakob.
In: Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Vol. 58, No. 10, 08.2017, p. 3997-4002.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Heritability of Retinal Vascular Fractals
T2 - A Twin Study
AU - Vergmann, Anna Stage
AU - Broe, Rebecca
AU - Kessel, Line
AU - Hougaard, Jesper Leth
AU - Möller, Sören
AU - Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm
AU - Larsen, Michael
AU - Munch, Inger Christine
AU - Grauslund, Jakob
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - Purpose: To determine the genetic contribution to the pattern of retinal vascular branching expressed by its fractal dimension.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 monozygotic and 49 dizygotic, same-sex twin pairs aged 20 to 46 years. In 50°, disc-centered fundus photographs, the retinal vascular fractal dimension was measured using the box-counting method and compared within monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs using Pearson correlation coefficients. Falconer's formula and quantitative genetic models were used to determine the genetic component of variation.Results: The mean fractal dimension did not differ statistically significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs (1.505 vs. 1.495, P = 0.06), supporting that the study population was suitable for quantitative analysis of heritability. The intrapair correlation was markedly higher (0.505, P = 0.0002) in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins (0.108, P = 0.46), corresponding to a heritability h2 for the fractal dimension of 0.79. In quantitative genetic models, dominant genetic effects explained 54% of the variation and 46% was individually environmentally determined.Conclusions: In young adult twins, the branching pattern of the retinal vessels demonstrated a higher structural similarity in monozygotic than in dizygotic twin pairs. The retinal vascular fractal dimension was mainly determined by genetic factors, which accounted for 54% of the variation. The genetically predetermination of the retinal vasculature may affect the retinal response to potential vascular disease in later life.
AB - Purpose: To determine the genetic contribution to the pattern of retinal vascular branching expressed by its fractal dimension.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 monozygotic and 49 dizygotic, same-sex twin pairs aged 20 to 46 years. In 50°, disc-centered fundus photographs, the retinal vascular fractal dimension was measured using the box-counting method and compared within monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs using Pearson correlation coefficients. Falconer's formula and quantitative genetic models were used to determine the genetic component of variation.Results: The mean fractal dimension did not differ statistically significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs (1.505 vs. 1.495, P = 0.06), supporting that the study population was suitable for quantitative analysis of heritability. The intrapair correlation was markedly higher (0.505, P = 0.0002) in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins (0.108, P = 0.46), corresponding to a heritability h2 for the fractal dimension of 0.79. In quantitative genetic models, dominant genetic effects explained 54% of the variation and 46% was individually environmentally determined.Conclusions: In young adult twins, the branching pattern of the retinal vessels demonstrated a higher structural similarity in monozygotic than in dizygotic twin pairs. The retinal vascular fractal dimension was mainly determined by genetic factors, which accounted for 54% of the variation. The genetically predetermination of the retinal vasculature may affect the retinal response to potential vascular disease in later life.
KW - Adult
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Female
KW - Fractals
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Quantitative Trait, Heritable
KW - Retinal Vessels
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - Twins, Dizygotic
KW - Twins, Monozygotic
KW - Young Adult
KW - Journal Article
KW - Twin Study
U2 - 10.1167/iovs.17-22072
DO - 10.1167/iovs.17-22072
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 28800646
VL - 58
SP - 3997
EP - 4002
JO - Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
JF - Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
SN - 0146-0404
IS - 10
ER -
ID: 185269580