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. 2010 Jun;3(3):173-80.
doi: 10.1159/000314612. Epub 2010 May 28.

Associations between BMI and the FTO gene are age dependent: results from the GINI and LISA birth cohort studies up to age 6 years

Peter Rzehak  1 , André Scherag, Harald Grallert, Stefanie Sausenthaler, Sibylle Koletzko, Carl Peter Bauer, Beate Schaaf, Andrea von Berg, Dietrich Berdel, Michael Borte, Olf Herbarth, Ursula Krämer, Thomas Illig, H-Erich Wichmann, Johannes Hebebrand, Joachim Heinrich; GINI and LISA Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Associations between BMI and the FTO gene are age dependent: results from the GINI and LISA birth cohort studies up to age 6 years

Peter Rzehak et al. Obes Facts. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: The association between polymorphisms in intron 1 of the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) and obesity-related traits is one of the most robust associations reported for complex traits and is established both in adults and children. However, little is known about the longitudinal dynamics of these polymorphisms on body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity.

Methods: This study is based on the 2,732 full-term neonates of the German GINI-plus and LISA-plus birth cohorts, for whom genotyping data on the FTO variants rs1558902 (T>A) or rs9935401 (G>A) were available. Children were followed from birth up to age 6 years. Up to 9 anthropometric measurements of BMI were obtained. Fractional-Polynomial-Generalized-Estimation-Equation modeling was used to assess developmental trends and their potential dependence on genotype status.

Results: We observed no evidence for BMI differences between genotypes of both variants for the first 3 years of life. However, from age 3 years onwards, we noted a higher BMI for the homozygous minor alleles carriers in comparison to the other two genotype groups. However, evidence for statistical significance was reached from the age of 4 years onwards.

Conclusions: This is one of the first studies investigating in detail the development of BMI depending on FTO genotype between birth and the age of 6 years in a birth cohort not selected for the phenotype studied. We observed that the association between BMI and FTO genotype evolves gradually and becomes descriptively detectable from the age of 3 years onwards.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
BMI development from birth to the age of 6 years stratified by FTO genotype status (rs1558902) modeled by fractional polynomial GEEs adjusted for gender and maternal smoking during pregnancy. Genotype: — T/T; — T/A; — A/A; •••• 95% prediction interval around the BMI trend for the known obesity risk genotype A/A of rs1558902.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
BMI development from age 2 to 6 years stratified by FTO genotype status (rs1558902) modeled by fractional polynomial GEEs adjusted for gender and maternal smoking during pregnancy. Genotype: — T/T; — T/A; — A/A; •••• 95% prediction interval around the BMI trend for the known obesity risk genotype A/A of rs1558902.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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