The Role of FTO Risk Haplotype in Overweight/Obesity and Lipid Parameters-Results From the Central China Population Study.

Background: Fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) genes rs9939609 is strongly associated with obesity and rs17817449 is an important and potential gene for obesity, have been well established. We aim to evaluate the relationship between FTO gene and overweight/obesity and confirm the influence of obesity on glucose and lipid metabolism parameters. Methods: We investigated 183 normal weight subjects and 193 individuals with overweight/obesity. Firstly, the effect of overweight/obesity on glucose and lipid metabolism parameters was analyzed. Then, the FTO genes rs9939609 and rs17817449 were counted to explore whether polymorphisms were associated with overweight/obesity and metabolic parameters. Results: Significant differences existed in glucose and lipid parameters between the group with overweight/obesity and control group. The rs9939609 and rs17817449 were strongly correlated with overweight/obesity. Haplotype analysis revealed that GA and GT haplotypes had 2.99 and 1.81 fold risk of overweight/obesity. FTO polymorphism also has effects on glucose and lipid metabolism parameters. Conclusions: There is a linkage imbalance between rs9939609 and rs17817449 in a Central China general population cohort, which also reflected the influence of FTO gene on the risk of overweight/obesity and total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) disorders. The new findings could provide new clues to predict obesity and metabolic diseases.