Association of the European Lactase Persistence Variant (LCT-13910 C>T Polymorphism) with Obesity in the Canary Islands

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 7; no. 8; p. e43978
• Main Authors: Almon, Ricardo, Álvarez-León, Eva Elisa, Serra-Majem, Lluís
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 24.08.2012; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Aged; Alleles; Analysis; Animals; Anthropometry; Biology; Body mass; Body Mass Index; Body size; Body Weight - genetics; Drinking Behavior; Exercise; Female; Genetic aspects; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic polymorphisms; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genotype; Genotypes; Humans; Inhabitants; Islands; Lactase; Lactase - genetics; Lactose; Lactose intolerance; Lactose Intolerance - genetics; Male; Medicin; Medicine; Middle Aged; Milk; Mortality; Nutrition; Nutrition surveys; Obesity; Obesity - genetics; Physiological aspects; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Population studies; Preventive medicine; Regression analysis; Risk factors; Spain; Studies; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Spain; Canary Islands
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043978

European lactose tolerance genotype (LCT -13910 C>T, rs4988234) has been positively associated to body mass indexes (BMI) in a meta-analysis of 31,720 individuals of northern and central European descent. A strong association of lactase persistence (LP) with BMI and obesity has also been traced in a Spanish Mediterranean population. The aim of this study was to analyze a potential association of LP compared to lactase non-persistence (LNP) with BMI in inhabitants of the Canary Islands of Spain using Mendelian randomization. A representative, randomly sampled population of adults belonging to the Canary Islands Nutrition Survey (ENCA) in Spain, aged 18-75 years (n = 551), was genotyped for the LCT - 13910 C>T polymorphism. Milk consumption was assessed by a validated questionnaire. Anthropometric variables were directly measured. WHO classification of BMI was used. LP individuals were significantly more obese than LNP subjects (χ(2) = 10.59; p<0.005). LP showed in a multivariate linear regression analysis showed a positive association of LP with BMI compared to LNP, (β = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.08-1.85, p = 0.033). In a multinomial logistic regression analysis normal range weight LP subjects showed an odds ratio for obesity of 2.41; 95%CI 1.39-418, (p = 0.002) compared to LNP. The T-13910 of the allele LCT-13910 C>T polymorphism is positively associated with BMI. LP increases significantly the risk to develop obesity in the studied population. The LCT-13910 C>T polymorphism stands proxy for the lifetime exposure pattern, milk intake, that may increase susceptibility to obesity and to obesity related pathologies.