The Clinical Lipid Research Clinic Family Study: familial determinants of plasma uric acid.

Commingling analysis of plasma uric acid levels in a random sample of 160 nuclear families supports the hypothesis that there is a mixture of three distributions. Assuming one, two, and three components in the underlying distribution, we obtained the corresponding p-values (for power transformation) as 0.059, 1.040, and 1.643, respectively. Path analysis with p = 0.059, 1.040, and 1.643 respectively. Path analysis with p = 0.059 gives genetic (h2) and cultural (c2) heritabilities as 0.256 and 0.199, without much support for intergenerational differences, assortative mating, or maternal effects. Complex segregation analysis with p = 0.059 supports multifactorial inheritance, consistent with the findings of Gulbrandsen et al. (1979) and Morton (1979) in other populations. This study also fails to support a major locus hypothesis, contrary to earlier reports.