Dietary intake, FTO genetic variants and adiposity: a combined analysis of over 16,000 children and adolescents

Qi, Qibin, Downer, Mary K., Kilpeläinen, Tuomas O., Taal, H. Rob, Barton, Sheila J., Ntalla, Ioanna, Standl, Marie, Boraska, Vesna, Huikari, Ville, Kiefte-de Jong, Jessica C., Körner, Antje, Lakka, Timo A., Liu, Gaifen, Magnusson, Jessica, Okuda, Masayuki, Raitakari, Olli, Richmond, Rebecca, Scott, Robert A., Bailey, Mark E. S., Scheuermann, Kathrin, Holloway, John W., Inskip, Hazel, Isasi, Carmen R., Mossavar-Rahmani, Yasmin, Jaddoe, Vincent W. V., Laitinen, Jaana, Lindi, Virpi, Melén, Erik, Pitsiladis, Yannis, Pitkänen, Niina, Snieder, Harold, Heinrich, Joachim, Timpson, Nicholas J., Wang, Tao, Yuji, Hinoda, Zeggini, Eleftheria, Dedoussis, George V., Kaplan, Robert C., Wylie-Rosett, Judith, Loos, Ruth J.F., Hu, Frank B. and Qi, Lu (2015) Dietary intake, FTO genetic variants and adiposity: a combined analysis of over 16,000 children and adolescents. Diabetes, 67 (7), 2467-2476. (doi:10.2337/db14-1629). (PMID:25720386)

Abstract

The FTO gene harbors variation with the strongest effect on adiposity and obesity risk. Previous data support a role for FTO variation in influencing food intake. We conducted a combined analysis of 16,094 boys and girls aged 1-18 years from 14 studies to examine: 1) the association between the FTO rs9939609 variant (or a proxy) and total energy and macronutrient intake; and 2) the interaction between the FTO variant and dietary intake on BMI. We found that the BMI-increasing allele (minor allele) of FTO variant was associated with increased total energy intake (effect per allele=14.3[5.9, 22.7] kcal/day, P=6.5×10(-4)) but not with protein, carbohydrate or fat intake. We also found that protein intake modified the association between the FTO variant and BMI (interactive effect per allele=0.08[0.03, 0.12]SDs, P for interaction=7.2×10(-4)): the association between FTO genotype and BMI was much stronger in individuals with high protein intake (effect per allele=0.10[0.07, 0.13]SDs, P=8.2×10(-10)) than in those with low intake (effect per allele=0.04[0.01, 0.07]SDs, P=0.02). Our results suggest that the FTO variant that confers a predisposition to higher BMI is associated with higher total energy intake and that lower dietary protein intake attenuates the association between FTO genotype and adiposity in children and adolescents.

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Contributors

Author: Sheila J. Barton

Author: John W. Holloway

Author: Hazel Inskip

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