Biodata
Genetic and other large-scale biodata in the HUNT Study
The data generated from samples in the HUNT Study was described as a data resource in a recent paper by Næss et al. The largest biodata available for further research are described on this page.
Access to genetic and other large-scale biodata
Access to any data from the HUNT Study requires assessment by, and likely ethical approval from, a Regional Ethical Committee (REK) with a Norwegian principal investigator, and an application to the HUNT Research Center. Requests for the use of omics data from HUNT follows the procedures for any request for HUNT data. Access to genetics and other large-scale biodata can be granted using a trusted research environment, like HUNT Cloud or TSD, for safe storage and data analysis.
Available biodata
Approximately 88,000 HUNT participants from the HUNT2-4 surveys have available genetic data from array genotyping. DNA was extracted at the HUNT Biobank laboratories (Levanger, Norway), and the genotyping was performed at NTNU Genomic Core Facility (Trondheim, Norway) using Illumina HumanCoreExome arrays. The data has been imputed using 1) sequenced samples (2,200 HUNT samples whole genome sequenced) for joint imputation with the Haplotype Reference Consortium (HRC) imputation panel, and 2) TOPMed imputation panel, and includes around 25 million well-imputed variants. The data is securely stored using the HUNT Cloud.
A good summary of what genetic data other researchers can apply for access to is described in a publication in Cell Genomics 2022 by Brumpton et al. A range of studies of genetic variation on a population level have been performed in HUNT, to a large extent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and Mendelian Randomization (MR) studies. Compiling a composite score for risk of several diseases based on multiple genes into a polygenic risk score and investigating that score in relation to disease outcomes has also been performed. We refer to this publication for further details.
Metagenome sequencing and microbiome profiling has been performed for fecal samples from about 13,000 HUNT4 participants collected as part of the HUNT4 survey. DNA was extracted at the HUNT biobank laboratories (Levanger, Norway) and sent to the Clinical Microbiomics (Copenhagen, Denmark) laboratories, where all non-human DNA was sequenced and analysed.
Sequencing of DNA in the samples has resulted in quantification of the presence of over 6,500 species resulting in quantification of 1) the presence/abundance of over 6,800 microbial species (bacteria, eukaryotes and archaea), of which about 4,900 species were present in at least one participant, 2) their estimated functional potential, 3) the presence/abundance of more than 26,000 viruses, and 4) measures of alpha and beta diversity. The current microbiome data was obtained using the Clinical Microbiomics Human Microbiome Profiler (CHAMP) pipeline and is annotated to the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) nomenclature, while microbiome profiles obtained with the MetaPhlAn 4 pipeline will be available soon.
HUNT has data generated from blood plasma or serum using platforms from SomaLogic panels and Olink Target panels. The most recent and largest batch of HUNT samples (>2000 samples) with proteomics data are those analysed using the SomaLogic 7000 v4 protein panel in samples from the HUNT3 survey. The project design was case-cohort and the samples were selected based on a focus on cardiovascular disease. The SomaLogic technology is based on the use of modified aptamers, which are short synthetic DNA or RNA molecules that can bind to specific proteins with high affinity and specificity. These aptamers are called SOMAmers and they are designed to recognize and quantify over 7,000 proteins in every blood sample. Different subsets of HUNT samples have been analysed using the panels targeting either 1,000, 3,000 or 5,000 proteins.
There are several subsets generated in past projects (e.g. related to lung cancer, myocardial infarction) that have been analysed using several of the Olink target panels targeting 92 proteins (e.g. cardiovascular or oncology panels). Olink technology is a proteomics platform that uses a method called Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) to measure up to thousands of proteins in a single blood sample with high specificity and sensitivity.
Large-scale metabolomic profiling in blood has been performed in samples from >18,000 participants in the HUNT 3 survey, quantifying >240 small-molecular metabolites and lipoprotein subfractions. The samples were analysed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy using the Nightingale quantification assay at the University of Bristol. Additionally, metabolomics profiling of blood samples from 2,400 women in the HUNT2 survey has been performed by NMR spectroscopy using the Bruker BioSpin quantification assays at NTNU.
If interested in any of the data described here, please contact the HUNT administration for further details and enquiries or to investigate if your project includes participants that overlap with the participants with large-scale biodata. To explore the phenotypes available for research projects, please see the descriptions of what is available in the HUNT Databank.