Genome-wide gene-environment interaction study uncovers 162 vitamin D status variants using a precise ambient UVB measure.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41315334.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-65820-x and PMC identifier 12663108.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Vitamin D status is influenced by genetic and environmental factors-primarily sun exposure. Using satellite weather data, we estimated an ambient UVB dose for each participant based on residential address and date of sampling. We conducted genome-wide tests in 338,977 UK Biobank White British participants, adjusted for age, sex, supplements, UVB dose, and 10 principal components to account for population structure. We applied three models to test for genetic effects: marginal only, main and interaction, and joint effects. We identified 307 variants associated with standardised log-transformed 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration, 162 of which were not previously identified in GWAS. We identify an increase in SNP-heritability by increasing ambient UVB exposure quintiles (h<sup>2</sup><sub>Q1</sub> = 8.48% vs. h<sup>2</sup><sub>Q5</sub> = 15.56%). Downstream annotation implicated genes in the 25OHD pathway, including the circadian regulator, BMAL1. This and further findings suggest that vitamin D status and circadian rhythm may be entangled and that vitamin D metabolites may have a role as mediators of seasonal physiological fluctuations, including metabolism, and in turn explain the established associations with lipid metabolism pathways.
Medical subject headings
- Vitamin D
- Ultraviolet Rays
- Gene-Environment Interaction