The genetic landscape of pediatric postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

BACKGROUND: Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a complex disorder with serious health consequences, while its etiology remains largely elusive. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the genetic landscape of POTS using genomic approaches in a unique pediatric cohort. METHODS: We conducted a combined genome wide genotyping and whole exome sequencing (WES) study to systemically examine the molecular mechanisms of POTS pathogenesis. The patients were genotyped as two independent cohorts: a family cohort of 100 complete families and a case-control cohort of 207 unrelated European cases and 4063 ethnicity-matched control subjects. The WES component consisted of a subset of the genotyped subjects, including 87 unrelated European cases and 2719 unrelated European control subjects. RESULTS: The heterogeneous phenotype of POTS made achieving genome-wide significance improbable. Instead, 5670 SNPs with nominal significance (P < 0.05) were identified in both the family and case-control cohorts, with effects in the same direction. We conducted an over-representation analysis (ORA) by considering all genes that showed nominal significance. The ORA identified gene sets linked to cell-cell junction, early estrogen response, and substance-related disorders with statistical significance. Moreover, WES revealed 55 genes with genome-wide significance through rare variant burden analysis, harboring 92 variants classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic by ClinVar. CONCLUSIONS: This study showcases the complex interplay between common and rare genetic variants in POTS development, marking a pioneering step forward in deciphering its complex etiologies. The insights from this research enrich our understanding of POTS, offering new avenues for precise treatment strategies and highlighting areas for further research.