rs110662 (HSD17B8): Educational Attainment Variant
Key takeaways
- rs110662 was one of 3,952 variants linked to years of schooling in a GWAS of over 3 million people.
- The full set of identified EA variants together explains 12-16% of variance in years of schooling; any single variant's individual contribution is tiny.
- Tissue expression data shows this variant reduces HSD17B8 activity in skeletal muscle, tibial artery, sigmoid colon, esophagus muscularis, and skin.
- Direct genetic effects (separating personal DNA from inherited family environment) account for roughly half the overall polygenic association with schooling.
- No dominant genetic effects were found for any educational attainment variant in this analysis.
Key takeaways
- rs110662 was one of 3,952 variants linked to years of schooling in a GWAS of over 3 million people.
- The full set of identified EA variants together explains 12-16% of variance in years of schooling; any single variant's individual contribution is tiny.
- Tissue expression data shows this variant reduces HSD17B8 activity in skeletal muscle, tibial artery, sigmoid colon, esophagus muscularis, and skin.
- Direct genetic effects (separating personal DNA from inherited family environment) account for roughly half the overall polygenic association with schooling.
- No dominant genetic effects were found for any educational attainment variant in this analysis.
What the research says rs110662 reached genome-wide significance (p < 5e-8) in a meta-analysis of educational attainment (EA, measured as years of schooling completed) across approximately 3,037,499 individuals, making it one of 3,952 approximately independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, single-letter DNA variations) identified in that analysis. A polygenic index (PGI, a score that aggregates the effects of many variants across the genome) built from all identified EA variants explains 12-16% of variance in years of schooling; direct effects, estimated by controlling for parental PGIs in family-based analyses to separate personal DNA from family-environment pathways, account for roughly half that total association. In tissue expression data, the alternate allele at rs110662 is associated with reduced HSD17B8 expression in five tissues and reduced HLA-DPB1 expression in cultured fibroblasts GTEx Portal.
Reported associations
- Educational attainment: Among 3,952 genome-wide significant autosomal SNPs associated with years of schooling completed in a GWAS meta-analysis of approximately 3,037,499 individuals (mean chi-squared statistic 4.90 across the full SNP set).
Evidence quality The educational attainment association comes from a single, large GWAS meta-analysis (N = 3,037,499), roughly three times the sample of the prior study (N approximately 1.1 million), with a mean chi-squared statistic of 4.90 and 3,952 independent loci reaching genome-wide significance. The PGI R2 for EA improved from approximately 11-13% in the prior study to 12-16% in this updated analysis. Per-variant effect sizes for rs110662 individually are not reported in the available source; as one of 3,952 independent hits in a highly polygenic trait, its contribution to EA variance is expected to be very small. No replication data or conflicting findings specific to rs110662 are described in the available source material.
Tissue-specific expression effects
- HSD17B8: The alternate allele is associated with reduced expression in tibial artery, sigmoid colon, esophagus muscularis, skeletal muscle, and non-sun-exposed (suprapubic) skin; p values range from 7.4e-34 (skeletal muscle, the strongest signal) to 1.0e-23 (sigmoid colon) GTEx Portal.
- HLA-DPB1: Reduced expression in cultured fibroblasts (p=4.8e-17) GTEx Portal.
- ENSG00000301948 (an uncharacterized gene): Increased expression in cerebellum (p=1.3e-11) and cerebellar hemisphere (p=1.0e-12) GTEx Portal.
Lifestyle considerations No lifestyle considerations on file for this variant.
Frequently asked questions
What is rs110662 and why does it matter?
rs110662 is a common genetic variant located near the HSD17B8 gene. It was one of 3,952 variants that reached genome-wide significance in a large study of years of schooling across over 3 million individuals, and tissue expression data links it to reduced HSD17B8 gene activity in multiple tissues.
Is rs110662 linked to educational attainment?
Yes. rs110662 was among 3,952 independent autosomal variants that reached genome-wide significance in a meta-analysis of years of schooling across approximately 3,037,499 individuals. As one of thousands of independent hits distributed across the genome in a highly polygenic trait, its individual contribution to educational attainment variance is very small and is not reported separately.
What does rs110662 do to gene expression?
Based on tissue expression data, the alternate allele at rs110662 is associated with reduced HSD17B8 expression in five tissue types (tibial artery, sigmoid colon, esophagus muscularis, skeletal muscle, and non-sun-exposed skin) and reduced HLA-DPB1 expression in cultured fibroblasts. It is also linked to increased expression of an uncharacterized gene (ENSG00000301948) in cerebellar brain regions.
How much of educational attainment is explained by genetics?
A polygenic index built from all ~3,952 EA-associated variants explains 12-16% of variance in years of schooling, depending on the validation sample. Roughly half of that genetic signal reflects direct effects of the variants themselves, with the remainder potentially reflecting indirect pathways including family environment.
Does rs110662 affect disease risk?
The full polygenic index built from all ~3,952 identified EA variants (including rs110662) was found to add predictive power for ten diseases studied, beyond what educational attainment alone predicts. The individual contribution of rs110662 to any specific disease outcome is not reported separately in the available source.