Trans-ancestry GWAS of hot flashes reveals potent treatment target and overlap with psychiatric disorders.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most women experience hot flashes (hot flushes) during the menopause transition. Menopausal hot flashes typically persist for years, and for a sizeable minority of women, are substantially impairing. Genetic investigations can improve understanding of hot flash etiology.

Methods

We conducted a trans-ancestry genome-wide association study (GWAS) of hot flashes (N = 149,560) among post-menopausal women age 35-88. The outcome variable was self-reported hot flashes in four samples (total n = 42,489) and menopausal hormone therapy as a proxy in one sample (n = 107,071). We estimated the heritability of hot flashes and genetic correlations with psychiatric phenotypes using linkage disequilibrium score regression.

Results

In our trans-ancestry meta-analysis, the t

SUBMITTER: Werwath KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12830824 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature