Interaction of FTO and Physical Activity Level on Adiposity in African‐American and European‐American Adults: The ARIC Study
Open Access
- 6 September 2011
- Vol. 19 (9), 1866-1872
- https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2011.131
Abstract
Physical inactivity accentuates the association of variants in the FTO locus with obesity‐related traits but evidence is largely lacking in non‐European populations. Here we tested the hypothesis that physical activity (PA) modifies the association of the FTO single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs9939609 with adiposity traits in 2,656 African Americans (AA) (1,626 women and 1,030 men) and 9,867 European Americans (EA) (5,286 women and 4,581 men) aged 45–66 years in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Individuals in the lowest quintile of the sport activity index of the Baecke questionnaire were categorized as low PA. Baseline BMI, waist circumference (WC), and skinfold measures were dependent variables in regression models testing the additive effect of the SNP, low PA, and their interaction, adjusting for age, alcohol use, cigarette use, educational attainment, and percent European ancestry in AA adults, stratified by sex and race/ethnicity. rs9939609 was associated with adiposity in all groups other than AA women. The SNP × PA interaction was significant in AA men (P ≤ 0.002 for all traits) and EA men (P ≤ 0.04 for all traits). For each additional copy of the A (risk) allele, WC in AA men was higher in those with low PA (βlowPA: 5.1 cm, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.6–7.5) than high PA (βhighPA: 0.7 cm, 95% CI: −0.4 to 1.9); P (interaction) = 0.002). The interaction effect was not observed in EA or AA women. FTO SNP × PA interactions on adiposity were observed for AA as well as EA men. Differences by sex require further examination.This publication has 43 references indexed in Scilit:
- The genetics of obesity: FTO leads the wayTrends in Genetics, 2010
- Genome-wide association of anthropometric traits in African- and African-derived populationsHuman Molecular Genetics, 2010
- FTO Genotype Is Associated With Exercise Training–induced Changes in Body CompositionObesity, 2010
- Analysis of FTO gene variants with measures of obesity and glucose homeostasis in the IRAS Family StudyHuman Genetics, 2009
- Six new loci associated with body mass index highlight a neuronal influence on body weight regulationNature Genetics, 2008
- FTO Polymorphisms Are Associated With Obesity but Not Diabetes Risk in Postmenopausal WomenObesity, 2008
- Physical Activity and the Association of Common FTO Gene Variants With Body Mass Index and ObesityJAMA Internal Medicine, 2008
- Variation in FTO contributes to childhood obesity and severe adult obesityNature Genetics, 2007
- A Common Variant in the FTO Gene Is Associated with Body Mass Index and Predisposes to Childhood and Adult ObesityScience, 2007
- The International HapMap ProjectNature, 2003