Polygenic risk score prediction of multiple sclerosis in individuals of South Asian ancestry

Abstract Polygenic risk scores aggregate an individual’s burden of risk alleles to estimate the overall genetic risk for a specific trait or disease. Polygenic risk scores derived from genome-wide association studies of European populations perform poorly for other ancestral groups. Given the potential for future clinical utility, underperformance of polygenic risk scores in South Asian populations has the potential to reinforce health inequalities. To determine whether European-derived polygenic risk scores underperform at multiple sclerosis prediction in a South Asian-ancestry population compared with a European-ancestry cohort, we used data from two longitudinal genetic cohort studies: Genes & Health (2015–present), a study of ∼50 000 British–Bangladeshi and British–Pakistani individuals, and UK Biobank (2006–present), which is comprised of ∼500 000 predominantly White British…