Short communicationHeritability of plasma neopterin levels in the Old Order Amish

- Neopterin is a biomarker for cell-mediated immunity and oxidative stress, with a potential role in psychiatric disorders.
- We estimated the heritability of neopterin in Old Order Amish adults.
- We found a low heritability of neopterin in the Amish.
- Most of the variance in plasma neopterin levels is accounted for by non-shared environmental factors.
- Neopterin may be a useful marker for the longitudinal course of cellular immune responses in investigative paradigms.

BackgroundWe examined the heritability of neopterin, a biomarker for cell-mediated immunity and oxidative stress, and potentially for psychiatric disorders, in the Old Order Amish.MethodsPlasma neopterin levels were determined in 2015 Old Order Amish adults. Quantitative genetic procedures were used to estimate heritability of neopterin.ResultsHeritability of log-neopterin was estimated at 0.07 after adjusting for age, gender, and household (p = 0.03). The shared household effect was 0.06 (p < 0.02).ConclusionsWe found a low heritability of neopterin and small household effect, suggesting that non-household environmental factors are more important determinants of variance of neopterin levels in the Amish.

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