Background: The investigation of complex disease heterogeneity has been challenging. Here, we introduce a network-based approach, using partial correlations, that analyzes the relationships among multiple disease-related phenotypes.Results: We applied this method to two large, well-characterized studies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We also examined the associations between these COPD phenotypic networks and other factors, including case-control status, disease severity, and genetic variants. Using these phenotypic networks, we have detected novel relationships between phenotypes that would not have been observed using traditional epidemiological approaches.Conclusion: Phenotypic network analysis of complex diseases could provide novel insights into disease susceptibility, disease severity, and genetic mechanisms. © 2014 Chu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Chu, J. hwa, Hersh, C. P., Castaldi, P. J., Cho, M. H., Raby, B. A., Laird, N., … Silverman, E. K. (2014). Analyzing networks of phenotypes in complex diseases: Methodology and applications in COPD. BMC Systems Biology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-0509-8-78
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