It is clear that complex bone traits, like BMD, are not only the results of cumulative effects of individual genetic factor, but also the effects from interactive biological networks [28]. The weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) is a useful method to construct the co-expression network [29]. Co-expression networks are modular, and each module represents a group of co-expressed genes. These modules tend to contain genes involved in similar biological processes [7]. Hence, under WGCNA, we explored the functional relevance of the identified novel genes to other known putative osteoporosis genes in order to explore the potential functional mechanisms of the identified novel genes.
