Prior research
The ENSA 2000 Cohort: A National Resource for Genomic Discovery
Since 1987, Mexico has conducted periodic National Health Surveys (ENSA) to monitor the country’s health status through population-based data. For this study, we use samples and data collected during the ENSA 2000, a nationwide health survey carried out by the Mexican Secretariat of Health between November 1999 and June 2000.
ENSA 2000 was a probabilistic, multi-stage, stratified, cluster household survey designed to be representative of the civilian, non-institutionalized Mexican population at both the state and national levels. Trained personnel conducted interviews and collected information on household and sociodemographic characteristics, current health status, health care usage, and behavioral factors. In addition, sera and buffy coat samples were obtained from 43,085 individuals aged 20 years or older.
To date, over 50 scientific publications have been derived from this survey, providing key insights into national health trends and even preliminary genetic characteristics of the Mexican population. Importantly, ENSA 2000 included individuals from remote and rural regions, making it one of the most geographically and demographically inclusive population health studies ever conducted in Mexico.
Given its large scale, sophisticated sampling design, and rich phenotypic data, the ENSA 2000 represents a valuable untapped genetic resource to link genetic markers with health outcomes. Its effective genetic characterization has now become feasible through the combined expertise of a multidisciplinary team spanning Public Health, Epidemiology, Immunology, Pediatrics, Population Genetics, and Computational Genomics.
Why ENSA 2000 Matters
Working with Mexico’s National Health Surveys provides exceptional advantages:
- Comprehensive health coverage: ENSA datasets capture numerous traits relevant to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, along with seroprevalence data for various infectious diseases. These insights have directly informed public health interventions, including vaccination strategies for hepatitis A and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) [3–6].
- Unprecedented population diversity: Recent advances in Mexican genomics include the development of a fine-scale genetic map of ethnic variation [7], revealing extraordinary levels of genetic differentiation, especially among individuals of Indigenous ancestry. This diversity has been linked to physiological traits, such as lung function, underscoring the importance of studying population substructure in relation to health and disease.
- Unique opportunity for discovery: The combination of detailed phenotypic data and deep genetic variation makes Mexico an unparalleled setting for exploring highly heritable traits and genetic risk factors with large effects. The Mexican Biobank project leverages this foundation to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) across diverse biomedical traits, using population substructure maps to refine and interpret genetic associations.
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Sepúlveda, J., et al.
(2007).
Diseño y metodología de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2000.
Salud Pública de México,
49, s427–s432.
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Gamboa-Melendez, M. A., et al.
(2012).
Contribution of common genetic variation to the risk of type 2 diabetes in the Mexican Mestizo population.
Diabetes,
61(12), 3314–21.
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Gutiérrez, J. P., et al.
(2014).
[HIV seroprevalence among Mexicans age 15 to 49: results from the National Health & Nutrition Survey 2012].
Salud Publica Mex,
56(4), 323–32.
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Lazcano-Ponce, E., et al.
(2013).
Seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus in a cross-sectional study in Mexico: Implications for hepatitis A vaccination.
Hum Vaccin Immunother,
9(2), 375–81.
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Conde-Glez, C., et al.
(2013).
Seroprevalences of varicella-zoster virus, herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus in a cross-sectional study in Mexico.
Vaccine,
31(44), 5067–74.
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Caballero-Ortega, H., et al.
(2012).
Seroprevalence and national distribution of human toxoplasmosis in Mexico: analysis of the 2000 and 2006 National Health Surveys.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg,
106(11), 653–59.
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Moreno-Estrada, A., et al.
(2014).
The genetics of Mexico recapitulates Native American substructure and affects biomedical traits.
Science,
344(6189), 1280–85.
