A gene variant that lowers white blood cell levels and is common in individuals with African ancestry contributes to unnecessary bone marrow biopsies, according to a study published June 28 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The findings from three institutions, led by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, provide an example of how using genetic data could reduce a health disparity.
“We’ve essentially created this racial health disparity by not fully considering how genetic variation affects white blood cell levels,” said Jonathan Mosley, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics at VUMC. “Our study supports genotyping African Americans before performing a bone marrow biopsy for the indication of isolated low white blood cell counts.”
Other DBMI authors include Dan Roden, Lisa Bastarache and Mingjian Shi. Click to read more in the VUMC Reporter!