Lifestyle may modify the glucose-raising effect of genetic loci. A study in the Greek population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lifestyle habits including dietary intake and physical activity are closely associated with multiple body processes including glucose metabolism and are known to affect human health. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with glucose levels. The hypothesis tested here is whether a healthy lifestyle assessed via a score is associated with glycaemic traits and whether there is an interaction between the lifestyle and known glucose-raising genetic variants in association with glycaemic traits. METHODS AND RESULTS: Participants of Greek descent from the THISEAS study were included in this analysis. We developed a glucose preventive score (GPS) including dietary and physical activity characteristics. We also modelled a weighted genetic risk score (wGRS), based on 20 known glucose-raising loci, in order to investigate the impact of lifestyle-gene interaction on glucose levels. The GPS was observed to be significantly associated with lower glucose concentrations (ß ± SE: -0.083 ± 0.021 mmol/L, P = 1.6 × 10(-04)) and the wGRS, as expected, with increased glucose levels (ß ± SE: 0.020 ± 0.007 mmol/L, P = 8.4 × 10(-3)). The association of the wGRS with glucose levels was attenuated after interaction with the GPS. A higher GPS indicated decreasing glucose levels in the presence of an increasing wGRS (ß interaction ± SE: -0.019 ± 0.007 mmol/L, P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that lower glucose levels underlie a healthier lifestyle and also support an interaction between the wGRS for known glycaemic loci and GPS associated with lower glucose levels. These scores could be useful tools for monitoring glucose metabolism.

Association among 1267 A/G HSP70-2, -308 G/A TNF-α polymorphisms and pro-inflammatory plasma mediators in old ZincAge population.

Proinflammatory cytokines and heat shock proteins play relevant roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. We investigated whether Hsp70 1267 A/G and TNF-α -308 G/A polymorphisms are associated with proinflammatory mediators, zinc status and laboratory parameters in 1,078 healthy elderly from ZincAge study. Hsp70 1267 A/G genotype and allele distribution were similar among various European countries, while a TNF-α genetic heterogeneity was observed between the Northern and the Southern European populations, with a major frequency of the -308 A variant in France, Germany and Poland. We used linear regression models to test additive, dominant or recessive associations of each SNP with proinflammatory mediators, laboratory parameters, metallothioneins and zinc status. Hsp70 1267 A/G SNP, but not TNF-α -308 G/A SNP, influences TNF-α and IL-6 plasma levels under additive, dominant and recessive models (for TNF-α only). An association between Hsp70 1267 A/G SNP and zinc plasma levels was observed in the dominant model. In particular, G allele carriers showed increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and zinc. Moreover, both these SNPs affect creatinine levels suggesting a possible influence on renal function. In conclusion, Hsp70 1267 A/G SNP is associated with pro-inflammatory cytokine production in healthy elderly and might represent a possible determinant of individual susceptibility to inflammatory diseases.