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  • Original Article
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Variants of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene are associated with fat mass in men

International Journal of Obesity volume 33, pages 525–533 (2009)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 15 June 2009

Abstract

Context:

Immune functions seem to have connections to variations in body fat mass. Studies of knockout mice indicate that endogenous interleukin (IL)-1 can suppress mature-onset obesity.

Objective:

To systematically investigate our hypotheses that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and/or haplotypes variants in the IL-1 gene system are associated with fat mass.

Subjects:

The Gothenburg osteoporosis and obesity determinants (GOOD) study is a population-based cross-sectional study of 18–20 year-old men (n=1068), from Gothenburg, Sweden. Major findings were confirmed in elderly men (n=3014) from the Swedish part of the osteoporotic fractures in men (MrOS) multicenter population-based study.

Main Outcome Measure:

The genotype distributions and their association with body fat mass in different compartments, measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Results:

Out of 15 investigated SNPs in the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN) gene, a recently identified 3′ untranslated region C>T (rs4252041, minor allele frequency=4%) SNP was associated with the primary outcome total fat mass (P=0.003) and regional fat masses, but not with lean body mass or serum IL-1 receptor 1 (IL1RN) levels. This SNP was also associated with body fat when correcting the earlier reported IL1RN+2018 T>C (rs419598) SNP (in linkage disequilibrium with a well-studied variable number tandem repeat of 86 bp). The association between rs4252041 SNP and body fat was confirmed in the older MrOS population (P=0.03). The rs4252041 SNP was part of three haplotypes consisting of five adjacent SNPs that were identified by a sliding window approach. These haplotypes had a highly significant global association with total body fat (P<0.001). None of the other investigated members of the IL-1 gene family displayed any SNPs that have not been described previously to be significantly associated with body fat.

Conclusions:

The IL1RN gene, shown to enhance obesity by suppressing IL-1 effects in experimental animals, have no previously described gene polymorphisms and haplotypes that are associated with fat, but not lean mass in two populations of men.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Physiology/Endocrinology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    N Andersson, L Strandberg & J-O Jansson

  2. Mathematical Statistics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    S Nilsson

  3. Department of Medical Sciences, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ö Ljungren

  4. Department of Clinical Sciences, Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    M K Karlsson

  5. Department of Orthopedics, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden

    M K Karlsson

  6. Departments of Geriatrics and Internal Medicine, Center for Bone Research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    D Mellström, M Lorentzon & C Ohlsson

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  1. N Andersson
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Correspondence to J-O Jansson.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website (http://www.nature.com/ijo)

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Andersson, N., Strandberg, L., Nilsson, S. et al. Variants of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene are associated with fat mass in men. Int J Obes 33, 525–533 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.47

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