Abstract MP05: Genetic Predisposition to Obesity and Healthful Plant-Based Diet in Risks of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease: Gene-Diet Interaction Analyses in the UK Biobank

Abstract

Introduction: Plant-based diets include beneficial nutrients for the prevention of obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD). No study has assessed interactions between a new healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI) and genetic predisposition to obesity in relation to adiposity and its related metabolic abnormalities. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that adherence to healthy plant-based diets would modify the genetic risk of obesity, and people at genetically higher risk of obesity would be more susceptible to the healthy diets for improving obesity and cardiovascular health. Methods: This study included 160184 participants initially free of CVD (myocardial infarction or stroke), diabetes, and cancer. We calculated the hPDI in which healthy plant foods received positive scores and the other foods received negative scores based on previous studies. A genetic risk score (GRS) of obesity was created based on 75 SNPs for BMI. Outcome measures included differences in BMI and mean arterial blood pressure (MAB), untreated hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥130 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥80 mmHg without antihypertensive medication use), and the 5-year incidence of CVD. Results: Higher hPDI was related to lower risks of obesity and untreated hypertension among the total study participants. We found a significant interaction between GRS and hPDI for BMI (Pinteraction <0.0001) (Fig. panel A). For people at genetically high risk, higher hPDI was more strongly associated with lower BMI levels. The significant GRS-hPDI interaction was also found for MAB levels and the risk of untreated hypertension (panels B and C). The effect of GRS-hPDI interaction was also related to the subsequent risk of CVD (Fig. panel D). Conclusions: Adherence to the healthy plant-based dietary pattern significantly attenuated genetic association with obesity. People at genetically higher risk of obesity may be more susceptible to benefits of healthy plant-based diets in improving adiposity and cardiovascular health.