Association Study of Three Gene Polymorphisms Recently Identified by a Genome-Wide Association Study with Obesity-Related Phenotypes in Chinese Children

• Published in: Obesity facts 2017-06, Vol.10 (3), p.179-190
• Main Authors: Song, Qi-Ying, Song, Jie-Yun, Wang, Yang, Wang, Shuo, Yang, Yi-De, Meng, Xiang-Rui, Ma, Jun, Wang, Hai-Jun, Wang, Yan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Alleles; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Blood pressure; BMI; Body Mass Index; Child; Children; China; Cholesterol; Disease; Elementary schools; Ethnic Groups; Ethnicity; Female; Gender; Gene; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genomes; Health risk assessment; Humans; Kinases; Linear Models; Male; Meta-analysis; Middle schools; Minority & ethnic groups; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - genetics; Odds Ratio; Original; Original Article; Overweight; Phenotype; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Population; Protein Kinase C - genetics; Risk Factors; Sample size; Software; Students; Teenagers; Variance analysis; Vesicular Transport Proteins - genetics; Waist Circumference - genetics; Waist-Hip Ratio
• ISSN: 1662-4025; 1662-4033
• DOI: 10.1159/000471487

Objective: This study aimed to examine associations of three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with obesity-related phenotypes in Chinese children. These SNPs were identified by a recent genome-wide association (GWA) study among European children. Given that varied genetic backgrounds across different ethnicity may result in different association, it is necessary to study these associations in a different ethnic population. Methods: A total of 3,922 children, including 2,191 normal-weight, 873 overweight and 858 obese children, from three independent studies were included in the study. Logistic and linear regressions were performed, and meta-analyses were conducted to assess the associations between the SNPs and obesity-related phenotypes. Results: The pooled odds ratios of the A-allele of rs564343 in PACS1 for obesity and severe obesity were 1.180 (p = 0.03) and 1.312 (p = 0.004), respectively. We also found that rs564343 was nominally associated with BMI, BMI standard deviation score (BMI-SDS), waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (p < 0.05). Conclusions: We showed for the first time that the rs564343 in PACS1 was associated with risk of severe obesity in a non-European population. This SNP was also found to be associated with common obesity and various obesity-related phenotypes in Chinese children, which had not been reported in the original study. The results demonstrated the value of conducting genetic researches in populations with different ethnicity.