Association between Gene Polymorphisms with Obesity: Findings from the Research Program.

UNLABELLED

Obesity is a public health crisis, and its prevalence disproportionately affects African Americans in the United States. Dysregulation of organelle calcium homeostasis is associated with obesity. The mitochondrial calcium uniporter () complex is primarily responsible for mitochondrial calcium homeostasis. Obesity is a multifactorial disease in which genetic underpinnings such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may contribute to disease progression. The objective of this study was to identify genetic variations of with anthropometric measurements and obesity in the All of Us Research Program.

METHODS

We used an additive genetic model to assess the association between obesity traits (body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference) and selected SNPs in 19,325 participants (3221 normal weight and 16,104 obese). Eleven common SNPs with a minor allele frequency ≥ 5% were used for analysis.

RESULTS

We observed three SNPs in self-reported Black/African American (B/AA) men, and six SNPs in B/AA women associated with increased risk of obesity, whereas six SNPs in White men, and nine SNPs in White women were protective against obesity development.

CONCLUSIONS

This study found associations of SNPs with obesity, providing evidence of a potential predictor of obesity susceptibility in B/AA adults.