rs708915

This study examined whether genetic ancestry is associated with disease prevalence in the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (N=1,129). Using 100 ancestry informative markers (AIMs), the authors estimated that the Puerto Rican population is 57.2% European, 27.4% African, and 15.4% Native American ancestry. African ancestry was negatively associated with type 2 diabetes (OR=0.33, 95% CI 0.13-0.84, P=0.021) and cardiovascular disease (OR=0.32, 95% CI 0.10-1.00, P=0.049), while positively associated with hypertension (OR=2.94, 95% CI 1.14-7.61, P=0.026). No significant association was found between ancestry and obesity or depression. The results demonstrate that population admixture can confound genetic association studies and that adjustment for ancestry is critical when ancestry is associated with disease.