rs11631531 (NTRK3-AS1/MRPL46): Adult Height
Key takeaways
- rs11631531 near NTRK3-AS1 and MRPL46 is one of 12,111 common variants tied to adult height in a study of 5.4 million people.
- Together, these variants explain roughly 40-45% of height variation in people of European ancestry.
- The study spans five major ancestry groups, but prediction accuracy is substantially lower in non-European populations.
- Height is one of the most polygenic traits known, with thousands of variants each contributing a small effect.
Key takeaways
- rs11631531 near NTRK3-AS1 and MRPL46 is one of 12,111 common variants tied to adult height in a study of 5.4 million people.
- Together, these variants explain roughly 40-45% of height variation in people of European ancestry.
- The study spans five major ancestry groups, but prediction accuracy is substantially lower in non-European populations.
- Height is one of the most polygenic traits known, with thousands of variants each contributing a small effect.
What the research says A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of approximately 5.4 million individuals across five major ancestry groups identified 12,111 independent common SNPs significantly associated with adult height, clustered within 7,209 genomic segments covering roughly 21% of the genome. These variants account for about 40% of phenotypic variance (the proportion of measurable height differences attributable to genetic differences) in populations of European ancestry, rising to around 45% when all variants in the HapMap 3 reference panel are included. rs11631531, in the NTRK3-AS1 - MRPL46 locus, is reported among the identified height-associated variants; however, its individual per-allele effect size is not separately enumerated in the available study excerpt.
Reported associations
- Adult height: The locus was identified as height-associated in a large multi-ancestry GWAS (n approximately 5.4 million); a specific per-allele effect size for this variant is not reported in the available excerpt.
Evidence quality Evidence derives from one of the largest human genetics studies conducted to date (n approximately 5.4 million), encompassing individuals of predominantly European (roughly 76%), East Asian (roughly 9%), Hispanic (roughly 8.5%), African (roughly 5.5%), and South Asian (roughly 1.4%) ancestry. The 12,111 identified SNPs account for about 40% of height phenotypic variance in European ancestry populations, compared with roughly 10-20% in non-European ancestry populations. The authors attribute this disparity to differences in linkage disequilibrium (the statistical correlation between nearby genetic variants along a chromosome) and allele frequencies across ancestry groups. No specific p-value, odds ratio, or per-allele effect size for rs11631531 alone is provided in the available text. The authors note that the map of height-associated genomic regions is considered largely saturated for European ancestry populations, but that further research is needed to pinpoint individual causal variants within associated segments and to achieve equivalent coverage in other ancestries.
Lifestyle considerations No lifestyle considerations on file for this variant.
Frequently asked questions
What is rs11631531 associated with?
rs11631531 is associated with adult height. It was identified in a genome-wide association study of approximately 5.4 million individuals as one of 12,111 common variants linked to how tall a person grows.
What genes are near rs11631531?
The variant is located near NTRK3-AS1 and MRPL46. These gene names form the locus designation used to identify this genomic region in height research.
How much does rs11631531 affect height?
An individual effect size for rs11631531 alone is not separately reported in the available study data. Like most height variants, its contribution is likely very small. The full set of 12,111 associated variants together explains about 40-45% of height differences in European ancestry populations.
Was rs11631531 studied in people of different ancestries?
Yes. The GWAS that identified this variant included approximately 5.4 million people across five ancestry groups: predominantly European, East Asian, Hispanic, African, and South Asian. Height prediction from all 12,111 variants works roughly 2-4 times better in European ancestry populations than in others, due to differences in genetic structure across populations.
Why is height so genetically complex?
Height is one of the most polygenic traits studied, meaning it is shaped by thousands of common variants each with a tiny individual effect. Even after analyzing 5.4 million people and finding 12,111 associated variants, explained variance in non-European ancestry populations remains much lower, reflecting how the genetic architecture of height differs across human populations.