Sains Malaysiana 42(3)(2013): 365–371

Association of Fat Mass and Obesity-associated (FTO) Gene rs9939609 Variant with Obesity Among Multi-ethnic Malaysians in Kampar, Perak

(Kaitan Gen Jisim Lemak dan Berkaitan Obesiti (FTO) Polimorfisma rs9939609 dengan

Obesiti dalam Masyarakat Berbilang Etnik Malaysia di Kampar, Perak)

Wei-Wei Chey, Sook-H aFan& Yee-H owSay*

Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Perak Campus, 31900 Kampar, Perak, Malaysia

Received: 26 May 2011/Accepted: 15 October 2012

ABSTRACT

Obesity is a multifactorial disease caused by the interaction of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the recently-described Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated (FTO) gene have been related to body weight and fat mass in humans and genome-wide association studies in several populations have indicated that the FTO rs9939609 variant is associated with obesity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the association of the FTO rs9939609 variant with obesity among 324 multi-ethnic Malaysians (98 Malays, 158 Chinese, 68 Indians) who attended the Kampar Health Clinic, Perak. With the overall minor A allele frequency (MAF) of 0.199, the distribution of genotypes and alleles was significantly different among ethnicities (MAF highest among Malays), but no association was found for obesity, related anthropometric measurements and gender. Subject with allele A had marginally but significantly higher waist circumference (p=0.015), thus the FTO rs9939609 allele was associated with central obesity (p=0.034 by Chi-square analysis; Odds Ratio (OR)=1.680 (CI=1.036, 2.724; p=0.035)). However, this association was abolished when adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity (OR=1.455, CI=0.874, 2.42; p=0.149). In conclusion, the MAF of the FTO rs9939609 SNP was low as in other Asian populations and there was no evidence for an involvement of this SNP in obesity and obesity-related traits in this multi-ethnic Malaysian study group.

Keywords: Fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO); Malaysia; obesity; rs9939609; single nucleotide polymorphism

ABSTRAK

Obesiti adalah satu penyakit yang disebabkan oleh pelbagai faktor, termasuk genetik, cara hidup dan persekitaran. Pelbagai polimorfisme nukleotid tunggal yang biasa dijumpai di dalam satu gen yang baru ditemui, jisim lemak dan berkaitan obesiti (FTO), telah dikaitkan dengan berat badan dan jisim lemak manusia. Kajian kaitan genom-menyeluruh dalam beberapa populasi telah mendapati bahawa FTO polimorfisme gen rs9939609 berkaitan dengan obesiti. Oleh itu, objektif penyelidikan ini adalah untuk mengkaji kaitan gen jisim lemak dan berkaitan obesiti (FTO) polimorfisme rs9939609 dengan obesiti dalam kalangan 324 masyarakat majmuk Malaysia (98 Melayu, 158 Cina, 68 India) yang menghadiri Klinik Kesihatan Kampar, Perak. Dengan frekuensi alel A minor (MAF) 0.199, taburan genotip dan alel adalah berbeza secara signifikan antara kaum (MAF paling tinggi dalam kalangan Melayu), tetapi tidak berkaitan dengan obesiti, ukuran antropometri dan jantina. Subjek dengan alel A mempunyai ukuran lilitan pinggang yang marginal tetapi secara signifikannya lebih tinggi (p=0.015), oleh itu FTO rs9939609 berkaitan dengan obesiti pusat (p=0.034 dari analisis Chi-square; Odds Ratio (OR) 1.680 (CI=1.036, 2.724; p=0.035)) untuk mempunyai obesiti pusat. Namun, kaitan ini dimansuhkan apabila dilaras dengan umur, jantina dan etnik (OR=1.455, CI=0.874, 2.42; p=0.149). Secara keseluruhannya, MAF FTO rs9939609 SNP adalah rendah seperti dalam populasi Asia lain, dan tidak terdapat bukti bahawa polimorfisme ini terlibat dalam obesiti dan ciri-ciri obesiti dalam kalangan masyarakat majmuk Malaysia dalam kajian ini.

Kata kunci: Jisim lemak dan berkaitan obesiti (FTO); Malaysia; Obesiti; rs9939609; polimorfisme nukleotid tunggal

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*Corresponding author; email: sayyh@utar.edu.my