Abstract
BackgroundBody constitutional types described in the traditional Korean medicine system, Sasang constitutional medicine, are heritable, as has been revealed by twin and family studies. Thus, individuals with the same constitution type usually have similar pathophysiological and psychological traits. In several recent genome-wide association (GWA) analyses performed to identify constitution-associated variants, the association signals were not replicated due to small sample size and dissimilar, non-objective methods for classification of the constitutional types.MethodsWe conducted GWA analysis and followed replication analysis in two large populations (5,490 subjects: 3,810 subjects at discovery stage and 1,680 subjects at replication stage) to identify the replicable constitution-associated variants, wherein subjects with the highest tertile of constitution probability values versus the reference with the lowest tertile of the values obtained from a recently developed constitution analysis tool were compared.ResultsWe found that the obesity-risk variant in intron 1 of the fat mass and obesity–associated (FTO) gene was replicably inversely associated with the So-Eum (SE) type, characterized by reduced appetite, slim body, and cautious personality (rs7193144 in combined samples: odds ratio = 0.729, p = 1.47 × 10−7), and substantial association signal remained after controlling for body mass index (BMI). In contrast, the association of the variant with the Tae-Eum type, characterized by high body mass, disappeared after controlling BMI.ConclusionsIn summary, the obesity-risk variant in FTO intron 1 was inversely associated with the SE type, independent of BMI, which corresponded well with the characteristics of the SE type, such as the lowest body mass and lowest susceptibility to metabolic disorders among the constitutional types. Therefore, the obesity-risk variant of FTO associated with body mass increase might be involved in the determination of body constitution type.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-015-0609-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Body constitutional types described in the traditional Korean medicine system, Sasang constitutional medicine, are heritable, as has been revealed by twin and family studies
We analyzed the common variants of the Sasang constitutional (SC) types in two Korean populations as follows: genome-wide association (GWA) analysis in a Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) population comprising 5,716 individuals and replication analysis in a Korea Constitution Multicenter Study (KCMS) population comprising 2,519 individuals
The subjects with TE type had higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, and glucose and lipid levels compared to the other SC types
Summary
Body constitutional types described in the traditional Korean medicine system, Sasang constitutional medicine, are heritable, as has been revealed by twin and family studies. Cha et al BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (2015) 15:120 type due to the very low proportion of Koreans with this constitution type (0.03–0.1%) [1]. These differences among SC types, especially for cardiometabolic risks between the TE and SE types, are attributed to the balanced status of physiological functions of the internal organs [1]. Body constitutional type is considered to be an inborn trait [1], a theory which is concurrent with the beliefs of Ayurveda [17], a traditional system of medicine native to India. The differential characteristics among SC types might have an underlying genetic basis
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