Gene by sex interaction for measures of obesity in the framingham heart study.

Obesity is an increasingly prevalent and severe health concern with a substantial heritable component and marked sex differences. We sought to determine if the effect of genetic variants also differed by sex by performing a genome-wide association study modeling the effect of genotype-by-sex interaction on obesity phenotypes. Genotype data from individuals in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort were analyzed across five exams. Although no variants showed genome-wide significant gene-by-sex interaction in any individual exam, four polymorphisms displayed a consistent BMI association (P-values .00186 to .00010) across all five exams. These variants were clustered downstream of LYPLAL1, which encodes a lipase/esterase expressed in adipose tissue, a locus previously identified as having sex-specific effects on central obesity. Primary effects in males were in the opposite direction from females and were replicated in Framingham Generation 3. Our data support a sex-influenced association between genetic variation at the LYPLAL1 locus and obesity-related traits.

Duke Scholars

Author Jeanette Joan McCarthy Family Medicine and Community Health

Author Jennifer Voigt Rowell Medicine, Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition

Author John Richard Guyton Medicine, Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition