Rapid and accurate multi-phenotype imputation for millions of individuals

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This study developed PIXANT, a novel machine learning method for rapid and accurate multi-phenotype imputation in large cohorts, which improved GWAS power and identified novel genes.

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The paper develops PIXANT, a multi-phenotype imputation method using mixed fast random forest algorithms, aimed at correcting missing phenotypes to enable downstream genetic analyses in very large cohorts. Using UK Biobank data, the authors report that PIXANT is orders of magnitude faster and more memory efficient than state-of-the-art imputation methods, performs superior or comparable to advanced approaches in simulations, and can scale to cohorts with millions of individuals. They imputed 425 phenotypes in 277,301 unrelated white British participants and conducted GWAS on the imputed traits, finding 15.6% more GWAS loci after imputation (8,710 vs 7,355), with some additional genes rediscovered, such as RNF220, SCN10A, and RGS6. The provided text does not specify particular limitations beyond noting the work as a preprint/initial report, and it does not discuss any disease-specific validation. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Abstract Deep phenotyping can enhance the power of genetic analysis such as genome-wide association study (GWAS), but recurrence of missing phenotypes compromises the potentials of such resources. Although many phenotypic imputation methods have been developed, accurate imputation for millions of individuals still remains extremely challenging. In the present study, leveraging efficient machine learning (ML)-based algorithms, we developed a novel multi-phenotype imputation method based on mixed fast random forest (PIXANT), which is several orders of magnitude in runtime and computer memory usage than the state-of-the-art methods when applied to the UK Biobank (UKB) data and scalable to cohorts with millions of individuals. Our simulations with hundreds of individuals showed that PIXANT was superior to or comparable to the most advanced methods available in terms of accuracy. We also applied PIXANT to impute 425 phenotypes for the UKB data of 277,301 unrelated white British citizens and performed GWAS on imputed phenotypes, and identified a 15.6% more GWAS loci than before imputation (8,710 vs 7,355). Due to the increased statistical power of GWAS, a certain proportion of novel genes were rediscovered, such as RNF220, SCN10A and RGS6 that affect heart rate, demonstrating the use of imputed phenotype data in a large cohort to discover novel genes for complex traits.
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Rapid and accurate multi-phenotype imputation for millions of individuals | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Technical Report Rapid and accurate multi-phenotype imputation for millions of individuals Ming Fang, Lin-Lin Gu, Hong-Shan Wu, Yong-Jie Zhang, Tian-Yi Liu, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3406520/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Deep phenotyping can enhance the power of genetic analysis such as genome-wide association study (GWAS), but recurrence of missing phenotypes compromises the potentials of such resources. Although many phenotypic imputation methods have been developed, accurate imputation for millions of individuals still remains extremely challenging. In the present study, leveraging efficient machine learning (ML)-based algorithms, we developed a novel multi-phenotype imputation method based on mixed fast random forest (PIXANT), which is several orders of magnitude in runtime and computer memory usage than the state-of-the-art methods when applied to the UK Biobank (UKB) data and scalable to cohorts with millions of individuals. Our simulations with hundreds of individuals showed that PIXANT was superior to or comparable to the most advanced methods available in terms of accuracy. We also applied PIXANT to impute 425 phenotypes for the UKB data of 277,301 unrelated white British citizens and performed GWAS on imputed phenotypes, and identified a 15.6% more GWAS loci than before imputation (8,710 vs 7,355). Due to the increased statistical power of GWAS, a certain proportion of novel genes were rediscovered, such as RNF220 , SCN10A and RGS6 that affect heart rate, demonstrating the use of imputed phenotype data in a large cohort to discover novel genes for complex traits. Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics/Software Biological sciences/Genetics/Genetic association study/Genome-wide association studies phenotype imputation machine learning UK Biobank non linear effect Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Table.pdf Supplementary Tables Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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