Current status of the Chinese National Twin Registry.
The Chinese National Twin Registry is the first and largest population-based twin registry in China. It was established in 2001. The primary goal of this program is the establishment of a population-based twin registry of 45,000 twin pairs from several regions representing north, south, urban, and rural areas in China. A secondary goal is to study genetic contributions to complex diseases, and to test associations of candidate genes with related phenotypes. Seven thousand, four hundred and twenty-three twin pairs have been enrolled in the registry, in which 1613 pairs have undergone detailed questionnaire assessments and physical examination. Based on the baseline registry, a twin cohort was established. Continued research includes studies on intermediate phenotypes of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and psychological studies in adult twins, studies on growth and development in adolescent twins, and so forth. The current state and future plans for the Chinese National Twin Registry will be discussed in this article.
Li
Liming
L
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China. lmlee@vip.163.com
Gao
Wenjing
W
Lv
Jun
J
Cao
Weihua
W
Zhan
Siyan
S
Yang
Huiying
H
Hu
Yonghua
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics; D012042:Registries; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic