Figure 2

Type of GxE interactions modeled by KAPS. On the y-axis is reported the disease risk (R) and on the x-axis is reported the level of exposure of the environmental factor. The relationship is modelled by the Eq. 3. For each combination of genetic factors there are different α _i and β _i that follows the specific constraints (Table 1). In the Environmental Model (EM), the disease risk is dependent only by the environmental exposure level, thus the environment-risk relationship is the same across genotype (same slope and no shift). In the Genetic Model (GM), the disease risk depends on genetic factor only, thus the environment has no role on the disease risk (the curve is flat) while the risk is different across genotypes (height of the curve). In the third model (AM), the disease risk depends on both genetic and environmental factors; the relationship between environmental exposure and disease risk is the same in each genotype (same slope), but in each genotype there is a different basal risk (shift). In the fourth model (GEM), the genetic factor influences the relationship between environmental exposure and disease risk (slope). However, there is no different basal genetic risk (no shift).