Objective: To apply linkage disequilibrium (LD) maps to associations studies with high throughput single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
Methods: Seven hundred and fifty-four SNPs were genotyped in 160 Shanghai Chinese. LD maps were constructed in cases and controls separately. By comparing the decline of LD unit with distance between the two groups, disease susceptible loci were estimated. This method was compared with traditional analyses including LD analysis, single SNP and haplotype analyses.
Results: The analysis of LD maps could detect the chromosome regions with different LD patterns between the cases and controls. The alleles and/or haplotypes frequencies of SNPs within the regions had significantly different distributions or trends of significantly different distributions.
Conclusion: This method may be applied to analyze the data from association studies with high throughput SNPs genotype information.