Yimin Zhu
Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China
Title: Genetic susceptibility of obesity in Chinese children and adolescents
Biography
Biography: Yimin Zhu
Abstract
Background: Both genetic and environmental factors are attributable to the incidence of obesity. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in European population have identified multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related with obesity. Little is known about the effects of these loci in non-Caucasian populations and gene-lifestyle interactions. This study aimed to examine the associations of 20 candidate SNPs with obesity, and related metabolic traits among Chinese Han children and adolescents, and assessed the interaction effects with dietary behaviors.
Materials & Methods: A population based case-control study was conducted among 853 obese school-age children and 2124 controls in China. All candidate SNPs were genotyped using Sequenom Mass ARRAY iPLEX platform.
Results: After adjusting for age, sex and multiple testing, five SNPs (MC4R rs17782313, SEC16B rs543874, MAP2K5 rs2241423, KCTD15 rs11084753 and FTO rs9939609) were significantly associated with obesity (P: 1.91e-5, 0.009, 0.018, 0.012, 1.39e-4, respectively), with the odd ratios ranging from 1.22 to 2.40. Genetic risk score (GRS), calculated with the sum of the risk alleles among the associated five SNPs, showed a positive association with obesity (P value for trend: 8.50e-15). Moreover, the rs9939609 were found to be significantly associated with food preference (P: 0.005). The rs17782313 and rs11084753 were associated with salt preferences (all the P less than 0.05). Multiplicative interaction was found between rs543874 and salt preference on the risk of obesity, and additive interactions between rs17782313, rs11084753 and salt preference were exhibited.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that genetic susceptibility plays an important role in obesity in Chinese Han children and adolescents.