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Vertical Pleiotropy

Definition
AI-generated

Vertical pleiotropy describes settings where a variant affects one trait that lies on the causal path to another (e.g. a biomarker intermediate between a gene product and disease), so effects on multiple phenotypes are chained through a mediating mechanism.

Topics
Core genetics
Related
Horizontal Pleiotropy Horizontal Pleiotropy (MR) Mendelian Randomization (MR)

Why it matters in GWAS

It contrasts with independent effects on multiple traits and is often discussed alongside Mendelian randomization: vertical structure can be consistent with a causal model, whereas unmodeled horizontal pathways complicate MR.

Example usage

"We argued the LDL–CAD association reflected vertical pleiotropy through a well-defined lipid pathway rather than independent effects on both traits."

Horizontal Pleiotropy Horizontal Pleiotropy (MR) Mendelian Randomization (MR) Pleiotropy Pleiotropy Dissection
Related-term network

Click any node to open that term page.

Node order. The current term is first. Next come every page linked from Related terms, in the same top-to-bottom order as that list. Then new terms appear in two-hop layers: for each of those direct neighbors (in that same order), their related terms are appended if not already listed. A third pass does the same for two-hop nodes. The walk stops when a fixed maximum number of nodes is reached.

References

  • Jee J, et al. (2026). The pleiotropic landscape of the human genome. Nat Rev Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-025-00908-0
  • Solovieff N, et al. (2013). Pleiotropy in complex traits: challenges and strategies. Nat Rev Genet.
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