Phenome- and laboratory-wide meta-analyses of sickle cell trait reveal multi-system disease associations.

Sickle cell trait (SCT) is linked to increased risks of kidney disease, pulmonary embolism, anemia, and other multi-system health issues in African ancestry individuals.

• Why it matters: Understanding SCT's broader health impacts is crucial because it is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for adverse outcomes, yet its full spectrum of associations remains unclear.
• What they did: Researchers conducted phenome-wide and laboratory-wide meta-analyses using data from three large US biobanks, involving 4,813 SCT carriers among 58,830 African ancestry participants, and validated findings with the Million Veteran Program.
• The result: Findings confirmed SCT's associations with kidney, hematologic, and metabolic abnormalities, with sex-specific differences, and suggest implications for clinical awareness and laboratory reference ranges in individuals with SCT.