The interaction between FTO rs9939609 and physical activity is associated with a 2-fold reduction in the risk of obesity in Korean population.

Abstract

FTO (fat mass and obesity-associated) gene is a well-known genetic risk factor for obesity. We investigated whether physical activity modulates the effect of FTO rs9939609 on obesity in Korean population. The study analyzed the correlation between physical activity and obesity in 8840 individuals representing the Korea Association Resource (KARE). The association between obesity-related traits and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was assessed using linear regression models. Physical activity was defined as 3hours or more of daily intense activity. Participants carrying rs9939609 (AT+AA) genotypes showed higher BMI compared with those carrying the wild-type (TT) homozygote. The highest significant association was observed between obesity-related traits (ß=.334, P value=1.76 × 10-6 ). FTO rs9939609 (AT+AA) increased the risk of obesity (OR=1.42, CI [1.13-1.79]), which was correlated with BMI correlations. However, active exercise by subjects carrying the same genotype reduced the risk of obesity by nearly 2-fold (OR=0.62, CI [0.25-0.84]). In contrast, TT genotype was not statistically significant in reducing the risk of obesity in the active exercise group. Our results support a previous finding correlating FTO and obesity-related traits and suggest that the interaction with genetic variation and physical activity is an important risk factor for obesity.