The fibromyalgia family study: A genome-wide linkage scan study

Objective Familial aggregation of fibromyalgia has been increasingly recognized. The goal of this study was to conduct a genome-wide linkage scan to identify susceptibility loci for fibromyalgia. Methods We genotyped members of 116 families from the Fibromyalgia Family Study and performed a model-free genome-wide linkage analysis of fibromyalgia with 341 microsatellite markers, using the Haseman-Elston regression approach. Results The estimated sibling recurrence risk ratio (λ_s) for fibromyalgia was 13.6 (95% confidence interval 10.0-18.5), based on a reported population prevalence of 2%. Genome-wide suggestive evidence of linkage was observed at markers D17S2196 (empirical P [P_e] = 0.00030) and D17S1294 (P_e = 0.00035) on chromosome 17p11.2-q11.2. Conclusion The estimated sibling recurrence risk ratio (λ_s) observed in this study suggests a strong genetic component of fibromyalgia. This is the first report of genome-wide suggestive linkage of fibromyalgia to the chromosome 17p11.2-q11.2 region. Further investigation of these multicase families from the Fibromyalgia Family Study is warranted to identify potential causal risk variants for fibromyalgia.