Results from Genome Analysis: " Bald Genes"?

[DPAMan]

Six months ago, I took a DNA test through AncestryDNA. The results on Ancestry.com only related to my ethnic background, and I wanted to see what else I could find about myself, such as predisposition to certain diseases. Soon after I got the results back, I downloaded them and ran them through a human genome analyzer called Promethease. I didn't think I was at a high risk of baldness (knock on wood), but was still curious.

I saw I was homozygous for this gene first, and breathed a sigh of relief (again, knock on wood):

rs925391(T;T)

Good	Repute
3	Magnitude
7.7%	Frequency
0.2926	GMAF
0	References
X	Chromosome
67120595	Position
3	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
minus	Orientation

unlikely to go bald
...less...23andMe seems to consider each A at rs925391 to have lowered men's odds of baldness by 11x. baldness *lowest P value of 2.1×10-12 for rs10521339 *family based rs938059 shows the lowest P value (4.03×10-6) (table 3) *rs6152 (P=6.66×10-10) ... more info...

Baldness

But then... !

rs2180439(T;T)

Bad	Repute
3	Magnitude
38.1%	Frequency
0.4421	GMAF
5	References
20	Chromosome
21872462	Position
3	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
plus	Orientation

2x increased risk of Male Pattern Baldness. Verified in Europeans and Asians. Family Tree DNA reports this SNP as more likely to go bald, but 23andMe doesn't mention it.

And the rest:

rs1160312(G;G)

Good	Repute
2	Magnitude
21.2%	Frequency
0.3926	GMAF
5	References
C19orf26	Gene
20	Chromosome
22069865	Position
2	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
plus	Orientation

Reduced risk of Baldness.

rs2003046(A;C)

Good	Repute
2	Magnitude
33.9%	Frequency
0.2585	GMAF
0	References
C1orf127	Gene
1	Chromosome
10972770	Position
2	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
plus	Orientation

0.75x lower risk of Male Pattern Baldness. Discovered by 23andMe based on customer surveys, and considered preliminary research.

rs2073963(G;T)

Bad	Repute
2	Magnitude
47.8%	Frequency
0.4444	GMAF
1	References
HDAC9	Gene
7	Chromosome
18838251	Position
2.5	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
plus	Orientation

increased risk of baldness
...more...
23andMe/SNPs Baldness NatGeo

rs1385699(C;C)

Good	Repute
1.5	Magnitude
15.4%	Frequency
0.3102	GMAF
5	References
EDA2R	Gene
X	Chromosome
66605144	Position
2	Max Magnitude
20140530	Rs time
plus	Orientation

slightly less likely to go bald decreased risk of baldness

For this last one, since I don't have either alleles G or A, it couldn't say what impact this had on my chances of male pattern baldness:

rs2223841(C;C)

0.3011	GMAF
0	References
X	Chromosome
67350329	Position
2	Max Magnitude
20140616	Rs time
plus	Orientation

...less...male-pattern baldness. Full text available. *G less likely to go bald before age 40 *A more likely to go bald before age 40 ... more info...

Overall it looks like I had an even chance of going bald or not going bald, and I just happened to draw a bad hand. AncestryDNA only records autosomal DNA, so I'm still curious as to whether I have the defective androgen receptor (which, according to SNPedia, is rs1204038?). I also supposedly have genes that increase the chance of prostate cancer, which makes me think of that theory that male pattern baldness acts as sort of a safeguard against it. The site pulls some of its information from other family research sites like 23AndMe, and there are probably a lot more genes that contribute to male pattern baldness, so who's to say how much value any of this data has, but it's still interesting.

Any thoughts? Also, if anyone has taken a DNA test in the past, I recommend to upload it to Promethease (there is a small fee, so look into free alternatives if that's an issue) and share the results relating to hair loss.

 

[moxsom]

Hey man!

I work in genetics so I can help you out a little bit here. The thing is with Male Pattern Baldness it is VERY polygenic. How do we find out if bald people have genes that non-bald don't people have? Simple, we can compare bald peoples genes with non-bald peoples genes right?! So we use this tool called a microarray/or next generation sequencer and then do a genome wide association study.

There's been a few of these done most notably this one: http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1002746

Anyway, so we know of some genes that are more associated with bald people, and some that are protective (people that aren't balding have these genes). As you can see from your analysis.

So here's the problem with looking at these on a gene - by - gene basis. It doesn't work. There's no specificity or sensitivity when looking at a single gene. For example rs2180439(T;T) gives you an increased risk of baldness. However there have been 20 plus genes significantly associated with differences in male pattern baldness. So you might have 5 risk alleles (that increase baldness), 13 alleles that are wildtype (general population) and 2 that are protective (found in people that don't go bald into their 70's).

The problem with these analysis is that they don't add up your score and they don't look at all the risk alleles, making them kinda useless for predicting male pattern baldness.

 

[rvahair1]

Genetics are very random and some genes express themselves, and others don't. You can have every gene for baldness in the world and still not go bald. Likewise, you can have hardly any genes for balding and experience hair loss. If you are male the tests will automatically be skewed towards baldness genes simply because of having a Y-Chromosome.

 

[moxsom]

Genetics are very random and some genes express themselves, and others don't. You can have every gene for baldness in the world and still not go bald. Likewise, you can have hardly any genes for balding and experience hair loss. If you are male the tests will automatically be skewed towards baldness genes simply because of having a Y-Chromosome.

This is pretty inaccurate. They've found around 50 genes correlated to male pattern hairloss. See the study here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441445/

The used a 20 SNP risk prediction model to get some pretty accurate results when trying to determine if someone would be bald or not. The more risk alleles you have, the higher odds that you will be bald. So well yes, you may have every gene for baldness and still not go bald, the probability of that happening is VERY low. There is a strong correlation to these SNPs and baldness.

Also, yes, some of these SNPs are on the X chromosome so you will only have one allele. Doesn't mean the test is skewed.

 

[DPAMan]

Hey man!

I work in genetics so I can help you out a little bit here. The thing is with Male Pattern Baldness it is VERY polygenic. How do we find out if bald people have genes that non-bald don't people have? Simple, we can compare bald peoples genes with non-bald peoples genes right?! So we use this tool called a microarray/or next generation sequencer and then do a genome wide association study.

There's been a few of these done most notably this one: http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1002746

Anyway, so we know of some genes that are more associated with bald people, and some that are protective (people that aren't balding have these genes). As you can see from your analysis.

So here's the problem with looking at these on a gene - by - gene basis. It doesn't work. There's no specificity or sensitivity when looking at a single gene. For example rs2180439(T;T) gives you an increased risk of baldness. However there have been 20 plus genes significantly associated with differences in male pattern baldness. So you might have 5 risk alleles (that increase baldness), 13 alleles that are wildtype (general population) and 2 that are protective (found in people that don't go bald into their 70's).

The problem with these analysis is that they don't add up your score and they don't look at all the risk alleles, making them kinda useless for predicting male pattern baldness.

That's a good link! I just thought it was interesting to look into; at the end of the day, this doesn't give me much information on how likely I was to go bald — and clearly rs925391 was not enough to save me! :jump:

This is pretty inaccurate. They've found around 50 genes correlated to male pattern hairloss. See the study here: [...]
Also, yes, some of these SNPs are on the X chromosome so you will only have one allele. Doesn't mean the test is skewed.

I took what rvahair1 said more to mean that a male would generally be more likely to develop male pattern baldness than a female with the same number of risk alleles for it. That makes me wonder now how often, if ever, XX males and XY females develop male pattern baldness, since XX males have the SRY gene, while XY females are often immune (or close to it) to the effects of androgens.

 

[moxsom]

I took what rvahair1 said more to mean that a male would generally be more likely to develop male pattern baldness than a female with the same number of risk alleles for it. That makes me wonder now how often, if ever, XX males and XY females develop male pattern baldness, since XX males have the SRY gene, while XY females are often immune (or close to it) to the effects of androgens.

Hmm, yeah maybe that's what he meant. Obviously we'll have a different number of maximum risk alleles since females have another X chromosome, but I'm not sure of the details behind risk alleles in FPH and if the numbers correlate the same. Testosterone is obviously a main driver of hairloss too so you have to take that into account.

And in regards XY females, they generally have very ****ed up androgen receptors on the X chr which is super protective against balding.

http://cyber.sci-hub.bz/MTAuMTAxNi9zMDE0MC02NzM2KDEyKTYwMDcxLTM=/10.1016@s0140-6736(12)60071-3.pdf

I've never seen anything about baldness prevelance in XX males though. I'll have to check it out!

 

[rvahair1]

Yes that is what I meant. Also as I said, genes are random. They do not always express themselves. For example- blue eyes , a recessive gene. But just because you have baldness genes does not mean you will go bald. My genetic tests say I have a propensity for hair loss. My brother is almost 50 and has no hair loss whatsover.
I have mild hair loss due to lyme disease and non male pattern baldness issues.

 

[moxsom]

Did you do the 23andme test rvahair1?

 

[rvahair1]

Yes. It was a mixed bag for me- with a few genomes that protected against hair loss , and some others that showed risk for baldness before age 40. Considering I will be 40 in less than 5 years , I am curious as to how it will turn out !

 

[Saulus]

Science is so unless

You would expect that by 2020 they just would genetical engineer you and cut the balding genes out making it possible for you to inject dht on a daily basis and still keep your perfect hair..but no..look at this sh*t


Its pathetic..what are these people even doing???!!