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Epidemiology

Assessing established BMI variants for a role in nighttime eating behavior in robustly phenotyped Southwestern American Indians

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 1718–1724 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background/objectives

Nighttime eating (NE) behavior has a genetic component and predicts weight gain. We hypothesized that some genetic variants, which affect NE would also show an effect on body mass index (BMI). We aimed to determine which known BMI variants associate with NE in Southwestern American Indians (SWAIs), who are at elevated risk for obesity.

Methods

Known BMI variants from the GIANT-UK Biobank meta-analysis (N = 700,000) were analysed in SWAIs characterized for NE during an inpatient 3-day protocol. Variants were analysed for association with NE using whole-genome sequence data from 50 SWAIs (23 cases and 27 controls) and selected variants were genotyped in an additional 32 SWAIs (13 NE cases and 19 controls). Variants associated with NE in a meta-analysis of the two SWAI samples were further analysed for association with nightly caloric intake and functionality in hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal tissues.

Results

Variants were identified where the allele that associated with increased BMI in the GIANT-UK Biobank meta-analysis (P ≤ 1 × 10−8) also had a P < 0.01 for increased NE in the SWAI meta-analysis. These variants were captured by six tagSNPs. Comparison of the nightly calorie intake by genotype and eQTL data from relevant tissues highlighted rs3753612 upstream of HCRTR1.

Conclusions

Our strategy led to the HCRTR1 locus, which has previously been linked to sleep regulation and feeding. Although this is an intriguing candidate gene for NE, further studies in larger samples and different populations are required to validate the role of HCRTR1 in NE.

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Fig. 1: Flowchart of the steps used to select candidate variants for nighttime eating (NE).
Fig. 2: Plots showing the nightly (after 11 p.m.) calorie intake as the percentage of the total calorie intake based on the genotypes of the six tagSNPs associated with NE and BMI.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the volunteers for their participation in the study. This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIDDK, NIH. We utilized the computational resources of the NIH HPC Biowulf cluster (http://hpc.nih.gov).

Funding

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Molecular Genetics Section, Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Çiğdem Köroğlu, Michael Traurig, Peng Chen, Clifton Bogardus, Paolo Piaggi & Leslie J. Baier

  2. Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section, Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Marci E. Gluck, Susanne B. Votruba, Jonathan Krakoff, Emma J. Stinson, Clifton Bogardus & Paolo Piaggi

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  1. Çiğdem Köroğlu
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Contributions

CK and LJB designed the study. CK, MEG, and SBV generated and analysed the data. EJS contributed in data collection and entry. JK, PC, CB, PP, and LJB contributed in consultation regarding data analysis and interpretation of the results. MT contributed in the interpretation of the results and the preparation of figures. CK, MT, and LJB wrote the paper. All authors have revised the paper and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Leslie J. Baier.

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Köroğlu, Ç., Gluck, M.E., Traurig, M. et al. Assessing established BMI variants for a role in nighttime eating behavior in robustly phenotyped Southwestern American Indians. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 1718–1724 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0654-z

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