6 research outputs found
Abdominal fat distribution and its relationship to brain changes: the differential effects of age on cerebellar structure and function: a cross-sectional, exploratory study.
Objectives: To investigate whether the metabolically important visceral adipose tissue (VAT) relates differently to structural and functional brain changes in comparison with body weight measured as body mass index (BMI). Moreover, we aimed to investigate whether these effects change with age.
Design: Cross-sectional, exploratory.
Setting: University Clinic, Integrative Research and Treatment Centre.
Participants: We included 100 (mean BMI=26.0â
kg/mÂČ, 42 women) out of 202 volunteers randomly invited by the city's registration office, subdivided into two age groups: young-to-mid-age (n=51, 20â45â
years of age, mean BMI=24.9, 24 women) versus old (n=49, 65â70â
years of age, mean BMI=27.0, 18 women).
Main outcome measures: VAT, BMI, subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue, brain structure (grey matter density), functional brain architecture (eigenvector centrality, EC).
Results: We discovered a loss of cerebellar structure with increasing VAT in the younger participants, most significantly in regions involved in motor processing. This negative correlation disappeared in the elderly. Investigating functional brain architecture showed again inverse VATâcerebellum correlations, whereas now regions involved in cognitive and emotional processing were significant. Although we detected similar results for EC using BMI, significant age interaction for both brain structure and functional architecture was only found using VAT.
Conclusions: Visceral adiposity is associated with cerebellar changes of both structure and function, whereas the regions involved contribute to motor, cognitive and emotional processes. Furthermore, these associations seem to be age dependent, with younger adultsâ brains being adversely affected
Common variants at 10 genomic loci influence hemoglobin Aâ(C) levels via glycemic and nonglycemic pathways.
Glycated hemoglobin (HbAâ(c)), used to monitor and diagnose diabetes, is influenced by average glycemia over a 2- to 3-month period. Genetic factors affecting expression, turnover, and abnormal glycation of hemoglobin could also be associated with increased levels of HbAâ(c). We aimed to identify such genetic factors and investigate the extent to which they influence diabetes classification based on HbAâ(c) levels
Genetic associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function
Reduced glomerular filtration rate defines chronic kidney disease and is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), combining data across 133,413 individuals with replication in up to 42,166 individuals. We identify 24 new and confirm 29 previously identified loci. Of these 53 loci, 19 associate with eGFR among individuals with diabetes. Using bioinformatics, we show that identified genes at eGFR loci are enriched for expression in kidney tissues and in pathways relevant for kidney development and transmembrane transporter activity, kidney structure, and regulation of glucose metabolism. Chromatin state mapping and DNase I hypersensitivity analyses across adult tissues demonstrate preferential mapping of associated variants to regulatory regions in kidney but not extra-renal tissues. These findings suggest that genetic determinants of eGFR are mediated largely through direct effects within the kidney and highlight important cell types and biological pathways
Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult heigh
Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.8%) and effects of up to 2âcentimetres per allele (such as those in IHH, STC2, AR and CRISPLD2), greater than ten times the average effect of common variants. In functional follow-up studies, rare height-increasing alleles of STC2 (giving an increase of 1-2âcentimetres per allele) compromised proteolytic inhibition of PAPP-A and increased cleavage of IGFBP-4 in vitro, resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors. These 83 height-associated variants overlap genes that are mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates (such as ADAMTS3, IL11RA and NOX4) and pathways (such as proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan synthesis) involved in growth. Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low-frequency variants of moderate-to-large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes, and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways
Novel loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: a multi-ethnic meta-analysis of 45,891 individuals
Circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone produced predominantly by adipocytes, are highly heritable and are inversely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and other metabolic traits. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 39,883 individuals of European ancestry to identify genes associated with metabolic disease. We identified 8 novel loci associated with adiponectin levels and confirmed 2 previously reported loci (Pâ=â4.5Ă10(-8)-1.2Ă10(-43)). Using a novel method to combine data across ethnicities (Nâ=â4,232 African Americans, Nâ=â1,776 Asians, and Nâ=â29,347 Europeans), we identified two additional novel loci. Expression analyses of 436 human adipocyte samples revealed that mRNA levels of 18 genes at candidate regions were associated with adiponectin concentrations after accounting for multiple testing (p<3Ă10(-4)). We next developed a multi-SNP genotypic risk score to test the association of adiponectin decreasing risk alleles on metabolic traits and diseases using consortia-level meta-analytic data. This risk score was associated with increased risk of T2D (pâ=â4.3Ă10(-3), nâ=â22,044), increased triglycerides (pâ=â2.6Ă10(-14), nâ=â93,440), increased waist-to-hip ratio (pâ=â1.8Ă10(-5), nâ=â77,167), increased glucose two hours post oral glucose tolerance testing (pâ=â4.4Ă10(-3), nâ=â15,234), increased fasting insulin (pâ=â0.015, nâ=â48,238), but with lower in HDL-cholesterol concentrations (pâ=â4.5Ă10(-13), nâ=â96,748) and decreased BMI (pâ=â1.4Ă10(-4), nâ=â121,335). These findings identify novel genetic determinants of adiponectin levels, which, taken together, influence risk of T2D and markers of insulin resistance
Correction: The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study.
The arcOGEN Consortium should be listed as an author of this article. They contributed to the genome-wide association study results presented in this work. They should be listed in the author byline at position 292 and affiliated with The Arthritis Research UK Osteoarthritis Genetics Consortium. They should also be included in the footnote designating consortia which is underneath the author affiliation list in the PDF version of the article, and in the S2 Text. Please view the correct S2 Text below, containing correct consortia members. S2 Text. Consortia members and extended acknowledgments.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006166.s001
(DOCX) [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005378.]