Jonathan D Mosley, John P Shelley, Alyson L Dickson, Jacy Zanussi, Laura L Daniel, Neil S Zheng, Lisa Bastarache, Wei-Qi Wei, Mingjian Shi, Gail P Jarvik, Elisabeth A Rosenthal, Atlas Khan, Alborz Sherafati, Iftikhar J Kullo, Theresa L Walunas, Joseph Glessner, Hakon Hakonarson, Nancy J Cox, Dan M Roden, Stephan G Frangakis, Brett Vanderwerff, C Michael Stein, Sara L Van Driest, Scott C Borinstein, Xiao-Ou Shu, Matthew Zawistowski, Cecilia P Chung, Vivian K Kawai
Polygenic variation unrelated to disease contributes to interindividual variation in baseline white blood cell (WBC) counts, but its clinical significance is uncharacterized. We investigated the clinical consequences of a genetic predisposition toward lower WBC counts among 89,559 biobank participants from tertiary care centers using a polygenic score for WBC count (PGSWBC ) comprising single nucleotide polymorphisms not associated with disease. A predisposition to lower WBC counts was associated with a decreased risk of identifying pathology on a bone marrow biopsy performed for a low WBC count (odds-ratio = 0...
April 22, 2024: Nature Communications