Impact of Genetic Variants on the Individual Potential for Body Fat Loss.

Jae-Hak Lee,Joon Kang,Soyeon Cha,Heewon Kim,Yoon Yang,Woong-Yang Park,Jinho Kim,Jinki Kim

doi:10.3390/nu10030266

Jae-Hak Lee, Joon Kang + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10030266

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Abstract

The past decade has witnessed the discovery of obesity-related genetic variants and their functions through genome-wide association studies. Combinations of risk alleles can influence obesity phenotypes with different degrees of effectiveness across various individuals by interacting with environmental factors. We examined the interaction between genetic variation and changes in dietary habits or exercise that influences body fat loss from a large Korean cohort (n = 8840). Out of 673 obesity-related SNPs, a total of 100 SNPs (37 for carbohydrate intake; 19 for fat intake; 44 for total calories intake; 25 for exercise onset) identified to have gene-environment interaction effect in generalized linear model were used to calculate genetic risk scores (GRS). Based on the GRS distribution, we divided the population into four levels, namely, “very insensitive”, “insensitive”, “sensitive”, and “very sensitive” for each of the four categories, “carbohydrate intake”, “fat intake”, “total calories intake”, and “exercise”. Overall, the mean body fat loss became larger when the sensitivity level was increased. In conclusion, genetic variants influence the effectiveness of dietary regimes for body fat loss. Based on our findings, we suggest a platform for personalized body fat management by providing the most suitable and effective nutrition or activity plan specific to an individual.

Highlights

The advent of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has enabled the discovery of thousands of genetic variants that contribute to human diseases in the last decade [1]
Our study explores the following novel aspects: (1) assessment of the applicability of obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to Koreans; (2) evaluation of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors that influence the extent of body fat loss; and (3) incorporation of changes in total calorie intake, carbohydrate intake, and fat intake into the model using data from a large Korean cohort obtained by administering food frequency questionnaires (FFQ)
Eighteen SNPs were in linkage disequilibrium (LD), and the SNP with the smallest p-value for each LD group was selected as the representative

Summary

Introduction

The advent of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has enabled the discovery of thousands of genetic variants that contribute to human diseases in the last decade [1]. Obesity-related genetic variants are major contributors to these complex diseases and have been extensively studied. SNPs has accelerated the characterization of the effects of different variant combinations on obesity. The market for the direct-to-consumer (DTC) genomic testing has emerged [17,18]. Personal genomics companies, such as Pathway Genomics, DNA Fit, 23andMe, Navigenics, and Helix Health, have offered personalized genetic reports that provide information on future medical risks, fitness, and athletic ability, as well as recommendations on diet, skin care, or lifestyle. Detailed investigations that utilize genetic screening tools are required to establish more reliable personalized health care programs

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