Inclusion of Candidate Region Studies in Meta‐Analysis Using the Genome Screen Meta‐Analysis Method: Application to Asthma Data

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Abstract
An extension to the genome screen meta‐analysis (GSMA) method is proposed that allows results from candidate region studies to be included in a meta‐analysis of genome‐wide search results. Quantitative linkage analyses for susceptibility loci linked to total IgE were performed for data from three genome‐wide searches and four candidate region studies from the Genetic Analysis Workshop 12 asthma data set. The GSMA and proposed extension were used to carry out a meta‐analysis of the results from these studies. The meta‐analysis indicates strong evidence for a susceptibility locus on the p‐arm of chromosome 6 and some evidence for susceptibility loci on chromosomes 2, 9, 10, and 15. There is no evidence from this meta‐analysis for a susceptibility locus for total IgE on chromosome 5. A method for assessing the possible effect of publication bias is also introduced.