A GWAS for grip strength in cohorts of children – advantages of analysing young participants for this trait

Grip strength (GS) is a proxy measure for muscular strength and a predictor for bone fracture risk among other diseases. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted in large cohorts of adults focusing on scores collected for the dominant hand, therefore increasing the likelihood of confounding effects by environmental factors. Here, we perform the first GWAS meta-analyses on maximal GS with the dominant (GSD) and non-dominant (GSND) hand in two cohorts of children (ALSPAC, N = 5,450; age range = 10.65 – 13.61; Raine Study, N = 1,162, age range: 9.42-12.38 years).

We identified a novel significant association for GSND (rs9546244, LINC02465, p = 3.43e-08) and replicated associations previously reported in adults including with a HOXB3 gene marker that shows an eQTL effect. Despite a much smaller sample (∼3%) compared to the UK Biobank we replicated correlation and polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses previously reported in this much larger adult cohort. Specifically, we observed genetic correlations with coronary artery disease and a PRS association with the risk of overall fracture. Furthermore, we observed a higher SNP-heritability (24-41%) compared to previous studies (4-24%) in adults. Our results suggest that cohorts of children might be better suited for genetic studies of grip strength, possibly due to the shorter exposure to confounding environmental factors compared to adults.