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Genomics and personalized strategies in nutrition

Association of common genetic variants with body mass index in Russian population

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 77, pages 574–578 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

Overweight is the scourge of modern society and a major risk factor for many diseases. For this reason, understanding the genetic component predisposing to high body mass index (BMI) seems to be an important task along with preventive measures aimed at improving eating behavior and increasing physical activity.

Methods

We analyzed genetic data of a European cohort (n = 21,080, 47.25% women, East Slavs ancestry >80%) for 5 frequently found genes in the context of association with obesity: IPX3 (rs3751723), MC4R (rs17782313), TMEM18 (rs6548238), PPARG (rs1801282) and FTO (rs9939609).

Results

Our study revealed significant associations of FTO (rs9939609) (β = 0.37 (kg/m2)/allele, p = <2 × 10−16), MC4R (rs17782313) (β = 0.28 (kg/m2)/allele, p = 5.79 × 10−9), TMEM18 (rs6548238) (β = 0.29 (kg/m2)/allele, p = 2.43 × 10−8) with BMI and risk of obesity.

Conclusions

The results confirm the contribution of FTO, M4CR, and TMEM18 genes to the mechanism of body weight regulation and control.

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Fig. 1: Forest-plot of effect sizes of the studied SNPs of BMI in East Slavs.

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Data availability

For Genotek dataset, the user agreement (available at https://www.genotek.ru) states that disclosure of individual-level genetic information and/or self-reported Information to third parties for research purposes will not occur without explicit consent, and the consent was not obtained from the individuals. Due to the user agreement the individual level cannot be made directly available, and the dataset could pose a threat to confidentiality. Data have to be accessed indirectly via Genotek Ltd, https://www.genotek.ru. Data requests should be sent to the Genotek Ltd at info@genotek.ru.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia

    Aleksandra Berseneva

  2. Genotek Ltd., Moscow, Russia

    Elena Kovalenko, Ekaterina Vergasova, Aleksandr Prohorov, Iaroslav Popov, Anna Ilinskaya, Anna Kim, Nikolay Plotnikov, Artem Elmuratov, Valery Ilinsky & Alexander Rakitko

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Contributions

AB, EK and AR conceived and planned the study. AB, EK, EV, AP and AR processed the experimental data. AB, EK and EV implemented visualizations for analysis. AR, IP and EV developed software. AB, EK and EV conducted the statistical analysis. EK, EV, IP, AR, AK, NP, AI and VI curated research data. AR, AE and VI administered the project. AR supervised the whole study. AB, EK, AP and AR drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed and edited the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alexander Rakitko.

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Berseneva, A., Kovalenko, E., Vergasova, E. et al. Association of common genetic variants with body mass index in Russian population. Eur J Clin Nutr 77, 574–578 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01265-z

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