3-year intervention with a Mediterranean diet modified the association between the rs9939609 gene variant in FTO and body weight changes

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 266 - 272
• Main Authors: Razquin, C, Martinez, J.A, Martinez-Gonzalez, M.A, Bes-Rastrollo, M, Fernández-Crehuet, J, Marti, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.02.2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alleles; Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO; anthropometric measurements; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Body Weight - genetics; body weight changes; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - diet therapy; Cardiovascular Diseases - genetics; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Diabetes; Diet; Diet, Fat-Restricted; Diet, Mediterranean; elderly; Epidemiology; Female; FTO gene; Genetic aspects; genetic polymorphism; Genetic Variation - genetics; Genotype; Health aspects; Health care; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health risks; Humans; Internal Medicine; Intervention; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mediterranean diet; Metabolic Diseases; Middle Aged; middle-aged adults; Nutrition research; nutritional intervention; Nuts; Obesity; Obesity - diet therapy; Obesity - genetics; original-article; Physiology; Polymorphism; Prevention; Preventive medicine; Proteins - genetics; Public Health; Regression analysis; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Risk factors; Single nucleotide polymorphisms; Statistical power; Time Factors; Toxicology; traditional foods; Treatment Outcome; Weight Gain - genetics; Spain; MED; nutritional intervention; body weight changes; Mediterranean diet; gene variant; PREDIMED; Obesity; FTO gene variant; Nutrition; Body weight; Genetic variant; Nutrition disorder; Variations; Metabolic diseases; Corporal biometry; Association; Genetics; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2009.233

Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of the rs9939609 (T/A) gene variant in fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) on body weight changes after 3 years and its modification by a randomized nutritional intervention with a Mediterranean-style diet in a population of subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Design: A substudy of PREDIMED, which is a randomized trial aimed at assessing the effect of the Mediterranean diet (MD) for primary cardiovascular disease prevention. There were three nutritional intervention groups: two of them with a Mediterranean-style diet and the third was a control group advised to follow a conventional low-fat diet. Subjects: A total of 776 high cardiovascular risk subjects aged 55-80 years. Measurements: Anthropometric measurements were recorded at baseline and at 3 years. The participants were genotyped by RT-PCR, followed by allelic discrimination. Results: Homozygous subjects had the highest baseline body weight. The dominant model showed that subjects carrying the A allele had the lowest body weight gain (B=−0.685; P=0.022) after 3 years of nutritional intervention compared with nonmutated subjects (TT genotype) regardless of the nutritional intervention. Moreover, this effect was statistically significant in carriers of the A allele only among those allocated to the MD groups (B=-0.830; P=0.018), but it was not significant among those allocated to the control group (P for interaction=0.649). Conclusion: This study confirmed the association between body weight and the FTO rs9939609 polymorphism. Interestingly, our results showed that, although at baseline the A allele was associated with higher body weight, after 3 years of nutritional intervention with a Mediterranean-style-diet, A-allele carriers had lower body weight gain than wild type subjects. No interaction between nutritional intervention and the polymorphism was found.