Association of FTO and TMEM18 polymorphisms with overweight and obesity in the population of Polish children

Published Online: 2016-03-16The objective of the study was to verify whether or not FTO rs9939609, rs9926289 and TMEM18 rs4854344, rs6548238, rs2867125 variants are important risk factors for overweight and/or obesity in Polish children aged 6-16 (n=283). FTO rs 9939609 and rs9926289 exhibited a strong codominant obesity-predisposing effect of genotypes homozygous for minor alleles (OR=5.42, 95% CI: 2.04-14.39, p=0.0006). The important finding of the study is increased risk of overweight (OR=5.03, 95% CI: 1.15-21.93, p=0.0306) in individuals homozygous for the minor alleles rs4854344, rs6548238 and rs2867125 in the recessive inheritance model, while no other significant associations between TMEM18 variants and risk of obesity were found. Given the identified interaction TMEM18 genotype × BMI category (p=0.0077), it seems that the effect of homozygous for the minor alleles may be compared to a “weight guard”, which significantly increases the risk of overweight, but not of obesity, because it promotes weight gain only up to the threshold of obesity. Conclusion: The proposed hypothetical effect (“weight guard”) of homozygous for the minor alleles in the TMEM18 based on a rather small sample is a possible explanation of the effects of minor alleles, which minimize the risk of obesity.Iwona Rosset, Dominik Strapagiel, Aneta Sitek, Małgorzata Majewska, Lidia Ostrowska-Nawarycz, Elżbieta Żądzińsk

Association of FTO gene with obesity in Polish schoolchildren

The goal of the study was verification of fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene polymorphisms as significant risk factors of obesity in the population of Polish children. Body mass index (BMI) and DNA were evaluated, where DNA was extracted from saliva, collected from 213 children at the age of 6-13 years. DNA was genotyped by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and HRM (high resolution melting) techniques, as well as by direct sequencing. Three (3) FTO polymorphisms were identified: rs9939609, rs9926289 and rs76804286, the last polymorphism located between the first two. For the first time, absolute linkage disequilibrium (LD) of FTO gene rs9939609 and rs9926289 polymorphisms was confirmed in data for the Polish population (D’=1, r2=1). The lack of a complete dependence among the three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the FTO gene was a consequence of the concurrence of homozygotes with minor alleles A of rs9939609+rs9926289 of FTO (AA+AA) with major alleles of rs76804286 (GG). A case-control association analysis for BMI in obese children (n=51), as compared to normal-weight children (n=162), was based on the effects of genotypes homozygous for the minor alleles of the studied SNPs in recessive and codominant inheritance models (assuming an independent effect of each genotype). A comparison of children with normal BMI with obese children indicate a strong co-dominant effect of a genotype in homozygotes of minor alleles (AA+AA) of completely linked rs9939609+rs9926289 (OR at age 8.89 ± 1.54 years=4.87, 95% CI 1.81-13.12, p=0.002). An almost five-fold increase of obesity risk in the examined children indicates that the genetic factors, associated with excessive body weight gain, exert stronger effects in the early period of ontogenetic development vs. puberty and adulthood. The role of genetic factors in predisposing to obesity declines with age.Aneta Sitek, Iwona Rosset, Dominik Strapagiel, Małgorzata Majewska, Lidia Ostrowska-Nawarycz, Elżbieta Żądzińsk

Blood pressure in children and adolescents - some aspects of measurements interpretation

This work presents new possibilities for interpreting blood pressure measurements of children and adolescents with the use of Internet. A dynamic web site allows for such interpreting and archiving blood pressure measurements in developmental age. Stored measurements results can become a basis for national pressure norm considering specificity of development of Polish children and adolescents. The interpretation system of blood pressure measurements in developmental age can be used both at school and hom

Textile electrodes for muscles electrostimulation – preliminary report

W pracy zaprezentowano elementy konstrukcji elektrod tekstylnych (TXT) przeznaczonych do elektrostymulacji mięśni, jak również wyniki wstępnych badań aplikacyjnych u osób zdrowych. Badaniami objęto 65 zdrowych ochotników (wiek: 20,2 ± 1,4 lat), u których analizowano wrażenia subiektywne towarzyszące elektrostymulacji mięśni kończyn górnych i dolnych z użyciem testowanych elektrod TXT oraz standardowych elektrod żelowych (EERC200M, BioMedical Life System, USA). Do elektrostymulacji zastosowano przenośny elektrostymulator EMS D7 (BioMedical Life System, USA). Wszystkie badania wykonywane były pod nadzorem przeszkolonych osób, zaś skategoryzowane wrażenia subiektywne badane osoby określały za pomocą ankiety. Wyniki wykazały dobrą tolerancję testowanych elektrod TXT przez większość badanych ochotników.The textile electrodes (TXT) for the electrostimulation of muscles, as well as the preliminary results of application in healthy subjects, are presented in the paper. The study involved 65 healthy volunteers (age: 20.2 ± 1.4 years). The subjective feeling associated with electrical stimulation of muscles of the upper and lower limbs, were examined. Textile TXT electrodes and standard gel electrodes (EERC200M, BioMedical Life System, USA), were tested. For electrostimulation a portable electrostimulator EMS D7 (BioMedical Life System, USA) was used. All tests were performed under the supervision of trained personnel and subjects described their subjective impressions by means of questionnaire. Results proved the generally good tolerability of the tested electrodes TXT by the majority of examined volunteers

Frequency of under- and overweight among children and adolescents during the economic transition in Poland

Abstract not availableE. Żądzińska, I. Rosset, S. Kozieł, T. Nawarycz, B. Borowska-Strugińska, W. Lorkiewicz, L. Ostrowska-Nawarycz, A. Site

Performance of Eleven Simplified Methods for the Identification of Elevated Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents.

The identification of elevated blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents relies on complex percentile tables. The present study compares the performance of 11 simplified methods for assessing elevated or high BP in children and adolescents using individual-level data from 7 countries. Data on BP were available for a total of 58 899 children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years from 7 national surveys in China, India, Iran, Korea, Poland, Tunisia, and the United States. Performance of the simplified methods for screening elevated or high BP was assessed with receiver operating characteristic curve (area under the curve), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. When pooling individual data from the 7 countries, all 11 simplified methods performed well in screening high BP, with high area under the curve values (0.84-0.98), high sensitivity (0.69-1.00), high specificity (0.87-1.00), and high negative predictive values (≥0.98). However, positive predictive value was low for most simplified methods, but reached ≈0.90 for each of the 3 methods, including sex- and age-specific BP references (at the 95th percentile of height), the formula for BP references (at the 95th percentile of height), and the simplified method relying on a child's absolute height. These findings were found independently of sex, age, and geographical location. Similar results were found for simplified methods for screening elevated BP. In conclusion, all 11 simplified methods performed well for identifying high or elevated BP in children and adolescents, but 3 methods performed best and may be most useful for screening purposes