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Cell Press, American Journal of Human Genetics, 4(86), p. 519-525, 2010

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2010.02.017

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A Variant in LIN28B Is Associated with 2D:4D Finger-Length Ratio, a Putative Retrospective Biomarker of Prenatal Testosterone Exposure

Journal article published in 2010 by Sarah E. Medland, Zayats,Tetyana, Tetyana Zayats, Beate Glaser, Dale R. Nyholt ORCID, Gordon,Scott D., Scott D. Gordon, Margaret J. Wright, Grant W. Montgomery, Megan J. Campbell, Anjali K. Henders ORCID, Nicholas J. Timpson ORCID, Leena Peltonen, Dieter Wolke ORCID, Susan M. Ring and other authors.
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Abstract

The ratio of the lengths of an individual's second to fourth digit (2D:4D) is commonly used as a noninvasive retrospective biomarker for prenatal androgen exposure. In order to identify the genetic determinants of 20:40, we applied a genome-wide association approach to 1507 11-year-old children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) in whom 2D:4D ratio had been measured, as well as a sample of 1382 12- to 16-year-olds from the Brisbane Adolescent Twin Study. A meta-analysis of the two scans identified a single variant in the LIN28B gene that was strongly associated with 2D:4D (rs314277: p = 4.1 x 10(-8)) and was subsequently independently replicated in an additional 3659 children from the ALSPAC cohort (p = 1.53 x 10(-6)). The minor allele of the rs314277 variant has previously been linked to increased height and delayed age at menarche, but in our study it was associated with increased 20:4D in the direction opposite to that of previous reports on the correlation between 2D:4D and age at menarche. Our findings call into question the validity of 2D:4D as a simplistic retrospective biomarker for prenatal testosterone exposure.