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  • Original Article
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Nutrigenomics and molecular nutrition

Genetic ancestry in relation to the metabolic response to a US versus traditional Mexican diet: a randomized crossover feeding trial among women of Mexican descent

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 395–401 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Certain populations with a large proportion of indigenous American (IA) genetic ancestry may be evolutionarily adapted to traditional diets high in legumes and complex carbohydrates, and may have a detrimental metabolic response to US diets high in refined carbohydrates and added sugars. We tested whether IA ancestry modified the metabolic response to a US versus traditional Mexican diet in a controlled dietary intervention.

Subjects/Methods:

First and second generation Mexican immigrant women (n=53) completed a randomized crossover feeding trial testing the effects of a US versus traditional Mexican diet. The metabolic response to the diets was measured by fasting serum concentrations of glucose, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), adiponectin, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and computed homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMAIR). Blood collected at baseline was used for genotyping, and estimation of African, European and IA ancestries with the use of 214 ancestry informative markers.

Results:

The genetic ancestral background was 56% IA, 38% European and 6% African. Women in the highest IA ancestry tertile (>62%) were shorter in height, less educated and less acculturated to the US lifestyle, and tended to have higher waist-to-hip ratio compared with women in the middle and lowest IA ancestry tertiles, respectively. Compared with the US diet, the traditional Mexican diet tended to reduce glucose, insulin, IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and HOMAIR among women in the middle IA ancestry group (IA ancestry ⩽45–62%), whereas having no effect on biomarkers related to inflammation.

Conclusions:

We observed modest interactions between IA ancestry and the metabolic response to a US versus traditional Mexican diet among Mexican immigrant women.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant P50 CA148143 and the Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA 015704. MS-T is currently supported by grant R25 CA094880 from the NCI. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT01369173).

Author contributions

CSC, MLN and JWL designed the research; KLB, LL and AV designed the experimental diets; KLB, LL and XS implemented the study protocol; CSC, MS-T, JDDT and C-YW analyzed the data; MS-T wrote the paper; MS-T, CSC and MLN had primary responsibility for the final content; and all co-authors critically reviewed and revised the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    M Santiago-Torres, J De Dieu Tapsoba, M Kratz, J W Lampe, K L Breymeyer, L Levy, X Song, C-Y Wang, M L Neuhouser & C S Carlson

  2. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    A Villaseñor

  3. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, Institute for Human Genetics, San Francisco, CA, USA

    L Fejerman

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  1. M Santiago-Torres
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Correspondence to M Santiago-Torres.

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Santiago-Torres, M., De Dieu Tapsoba, J., Kratz, M. et al. Genetic ancestry in relation to the metabolic response to a US versus traditional Mexican diet: a randomized crossover feeding trial among women of Mexican descent. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 395–401 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.211

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