Replication of Interactions between Genome-Wide Genetic Variants and Body Mass Index in Fasting Glucose and Insulin Levels

• Published in: Genomics & informatics Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 236 - 239
• Main Authors: Hong, Kyung-Won, Chung, Myungguen, Cho, Seong Beom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: glucose; GWAS; insulin; SNP; European
• ISSN: 1598-866X; 2234-0742

The genetic regulation of glucose and insulin levels might be modified by adiposity. With regard to the genetic factors that are altered by adiposity, a large meta-analysis on the interactions between genetic variants and body mass index with regard to fasting glucose and insulin levels was reported by the Meta-Analyses of Glucose- and Insulin-related trait Consortium (MAGIC), based on European ancestry. Because no replication study has been performed in other ethnic groups, we first examined the link between reported single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting glucose and insulin levels in a large Korean cohort (Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study cohort [KoGES], n = 5,814). The MAGIC study reported 7 novel SNPs for fasting glucose levels and 6 novel SNPs for fasting insulin levels. In this study, we attempted to replicate the association of 5 SNPs with fasting glucose levels and 5 SNPs with fasting insulin levels. One SNP (rs2293941) in PDX1 was identified as a significant obesity-modifiable factor in Koreans. Our results indicate that the novel loci that were identified by MAGIC are poorly replicated in other ethnic groups, although we do not know why.