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Significant Population Variation in Adult Male Height Associated with the Y Chromosome and the Aromatase Gene

Department of Physiology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Professor Stephen B. Harrap, Department of Physiology, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. E-mail: s.harrap{at}physiology.unimelb.edu.au

Abstract

The determination of human adult height is dependent on both environmental and genetic factors. Rare causes of abnormal stature have been identified, including mutations in the gene encoding aromatase (CYP19) and regions on the Y chromosome. However, the possible role of these loci in the genetic control of normal adult height is unknown. We have performed an association study using common biallelic polymorphisms within CYP19 and the Y chromosome to determine whether these loci are associated with variation in height in 413 adult males and 335 females drawn at random from a large population sample. An association between CYP19 and height was found (difference, 2.0 cm; 95% confidence interval, 0.16–3.8; P = 0.003), but this was more evident in men (difference, 2.3 cm; 95% confidence interval, 0.38–4.4; P = 0.05) than women (difference, 0.2 cm; 95% confidence interval, -2.1 to 1.6; P = 0.94). An association was also found with the Y chromosome (P = 0.009; difference of 1.9 cm; 95% confidence interval, 0.5–3.4). Additionally, when men were grouped according to haplotypes of the CYP19 and Y chromosome polymorphisms, a difference of 4.2 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.67–7.3) was detected (P = 0.004). These results suggest that in men, genetic variation in CYP19 and on the Y chromosome are involved in determining normal adult height, and that these loci may interact in an additive fashion.

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