Influence of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of ELOVL on Biomarkers of Metabolic Alterations in the Mexican Population.

María Luisa Maycotte-Cervantes,Lorenza Haddad-Talancón,Ulisses Moreno-Celis,Teresa García-Gasca,Víctor Manuel Rodríguez-García,Adriana Aguilar-Galarza,Akram Sharim Méndez-Rangel,Miriam Aracely Anaya-Loyola,Ma De Lourdes Anzures-Cortes

doi:10.3390/nu12113389

Abstract

The elongation of very long chain fatty acids (ELOVL) is a family of seven enzymes that have specific functions in the synthesis of fatty acids. Some have been shown to be related to insulin secretion (ELOVL2), and in the lipid profile (ELOVL6) and patients with various pathologies. The present work focused on the study of ELOVL polymorphs with clinical markers of non-communicable chronic diseases in the Mexican population. A sample of 1075 participants was obtained, who underwent clinical, biochemical, and nutritional evaluation, and a genetic evaluation of 91 genetic variants of ELOVL was considered (2–7). The results indicate a 33.16% prevalence of obesity by body mass index, 13.84% prevalence of insulin resistance by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index, 7.85% prevalence of high cholesterol, and 20.37% prevalence of hypercholesterolemia. The deprived alleles showed that there is no association between them and clinical disease risk markers, and the notable finding of the association studies is that the ELOVL2 variants are exclusive in men and ELVOL7 in women. There is also a strong association of ELOVL6 with various markers. The present study shows, for the first time, the association between the different ELOVLs and clinical markers of chronic non-communicable diseases.

Highlights

The elongases of very long chain fatty acid (ELOVL) family of fatty acid elongases includes seven enzymes that catalyze elongation of the carbon chain of fatty acids (FAs) during their condensation phase
When the population was divided by sex for posterior analyses, the results showed 15 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) of elongation of very long chain fatty acids (ELOVL) for women were related to clinical markers of chronic non-communicable diseases as risk factors in which the variant rs72938776 of ELOVL5 obtained an odds ratio (OR) of 11.37 for high LDL, whereas the rs9370194 variant of the same ELOVL was found with an OR of 2.92 for high total cholesterol
The results indicate that 15 SNPs are associated with clinical markers of risk for chronic non-communicable diseases

Summary

Introduction

The elongases of very long chain fatty acid (ELOVL) family of fatty acid elongases includes seven enzymes that catalyze elongation of the carbon chain of fatty acids (FAs) during their condensation phase. Given the important role of lipids in the metabolism, their associations with the development of various pathological processes, such as hepatic steatosis, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus 2, and cancer, are currently being studied [2]. The determination of the metabolic function of ELOVL4 has shown some influence on ceramides and very long chain fatty acids (VLFAs), mainly in the skin, brain, and eyes of mice [5,6]. The activity of ELOVL6 is the best studied, in addition to its importance in adipogenesis as a target of the transcription factor SRBP1 [8] and its effect in preventing insulin resistance when it is knocked down or knocked out in transgenic mice [9]. ELOVL7 is the least studied of all fatty acid elongases, but it has been associated with pathologies such as cancer and Parkinson’s [10]

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Discussion

Conclusion