Association of lipid metabolism-related metabolites with overweight/obesity based on the FTO rs1421085.

Globally, obesity is a severe health issue. A more precise and practical approach is required to enhance clinical care and drug development. The FTO (fat mass and obesity-associated) gene variant rs1421085 is strongly associated with an increased susceptibility to obesity in numerous populations; however, the precise mechanism behind this association concerning metabolomics is still not understood. This study aims to examine the association between metabolites and obesity-related anthropometric traits based on the variant FTO rs1421085. This study was based on a case-control design involving a total of 542 participants including overweight/obese cases and healthy controls. The blood samples were collected from all the participants. The isolated serum samples were subjected to untargeted metabolomics using GC-MS. The isolated DNA samples were genotyped for the FTO rs1421085 variant. Initially, a total of 42 metabolites were identified on GC-MS, which were subjected to further association analyses. The study observed a significant association of two metabolites, glycerol and 2,3-dihydroxypropyl stearate with FTO gene variant rs1421085 and obesity-related anthropometric traits including % BF, WHtR, WC, and HC. The CT genotype of FTO rs1421085 may greatly increase the risk of overweight/obesity by changing the lipid metabolism-related metabolites. Therefore, this study highlights the significance of biochemical networks in the progression of obesity in carriers of the FTO rs1421085 risk genotype.

Effect of interaction between obesity-promoting genetic variants and behavioral factors on the risk of obese phenotypes.

The studies investigating gene-gene and gene-environment (or gene-behavior) interactions provide valuable insight into the pathomechanisms underlying obese phenotypes. The Pakistani population due to its unique characteristics offers numerous advantages for conducting such studies. In this view, the current study was undertaken to examine the effects of gene-gene and gene-environment/behavior interactions on the risk of obesity in a sample of Pakistani population. A total of 578 adult participants including 290 overweight/obese cases and 288 normal-weight controls were involved. The five key obesity-associated genetic variants namely MC4R rs17782313, BDNF rs6265, FTO rs1421085, TMEM18 rs7561317, and NEGR1 rs2815752 were genotyped using the TaqMan allelic discrimination assays. The data related to behavioral factors, such as eating pattern, diet consciousness, the tendency toward fat-dense food (TFDF), sleep duration, sleep-wake cycle (SWC), shift work (SW), and physical activity levels were collected via a questionnaire. Gene-gene and gene-behavior interactions were analyzed by multifactor dimensionality reduction and linear regression, respectively. In our study, only TMEM18 rs7561317 was found to be significantly associated with anthropometric traits with no significant effect of gene-gene interactions were observed on obesity-related phenotypes. However, the genetic variants were found to interact with the behavioral factors to significantly influence various obesity-related anthropometric traits including BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and percentage of body fat. In conclusion, the interaction between genetic architecture and behavior/environment determines the outcome of obesity-related anthropometric phenotypes. Thus, gene-environment/behavior interaction studies should be promoted to explore the risk of complex and multifactorial disorders, such as obesity.

Predicting anthropometric and metabolic traits with a genetic risk score for obesity in a sample of Pakistanis.

Obesity is an outcome of multiple factors including environmental and genetic influences. Common obesity is a polygenic trait indicating that multiple genetic variants act synergistically to influence its expression. We constructed a genetic risk score (GRS) based on five genetic variants (MC4R rs17782313, BDNF rs6265, FTO rs1421085, TMEM18 rs7561317, and NEGR1 rs2815752) and examined its association with obesity-related traits in a sample of Pakistanis. The study involved 306 overweight/obese (OW/OB) and 300 normal-weight (NW) individuals. The age range of the study participants was 12-63 years. All anthropometric and metabolic parameters were measured for each participant via standard procedures and biochemical assays, respectively. The genetic variants were genotyped by allelic discrimination assays. The age- and gender-adjusted associations between the GRS and obesity-related anthropometric and metabolic measures were determined using linear regression analyses. The results showed that OW/OB individuals had significantly higher mean ranks of GRS than NW individuals. Moreover, a significant association of the GRS with obesity-related anthropometric traits was seen. However, the GRS did not appear to affect any obesity-related metabolic parameter. In conclusion, our findings indicate the combined effect of multiple genetic variants on the obesity-related anthropometric phenotypes in Pakistanis.

Survey data on the impact of COVID-19 on parental engagement across 23 countries.

This data article describes the dataset of the International COVID-19 Impact on Parental Engagement Study (ICIPES). ICIPES is a collaborative effort of more than 20 institutions to investigate the ways in which, parents and caregivers built capacity engaged with children's learning during the period of social distancing arising from global COVID-19 pandemic. A series of data were collected using an online survey conducted in 23 countries and had a total sample of 4,658 parents/caregivers. The description of the data contained in this article is divided into two main parts. The first part is a descriptive analysis of all the items included in the survey and was performed using tables and figures. The second part refers to the construction of scales. Three scales were constructed and included in the dataset: 'parental acceptance and confidence in the use of technology', 'parental engagement in children's learning' and 'socioeconomic status'. The scales were created using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Analysis (MG-CFA) and were adopted to evaluate their cross-cultural comparability (i.e., measurement invariance) across countries and within sub-groups. This dataset will be relevant for researchers in different fields, particularly for those interested in international comparative education.

Association and interaction of the FTO rs1421085 with overweight/obesity in a sample of Pakistani individuals.

PURPOSE: Genetic variants determine the predisposition of an individual to obesity in a given environment. The present study was conducted to seek an association of the FTO variant rs1421085 with overweight/obesity and related traits in 612 Pakistani subjects in a case-control manner (overweight/obese = 306 and non-obese = 306). Moreover, interaction effects of the rs1421085 and overweight/obesity on multiple metabolic traits were also investigated, which were never explored before in Pakistani as well as in any other population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Anthropometric traits were measured by standard procedures, while metabolic parameters were determined by biochemical assays. Genotyping of the rs1421085 was carried out by TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. The data were analysed using SPSS software version 19. RESULTS: The study revealed a significant association of the rs1421085 with overweight/obese phenotype with respect to over-dominant model indicated by h-index. The CT genotype of the rs1421085 was observed to increase the risk of being overweight/obese by 1.583 times (95% CI 1.147-2.185, p = 0.005). The CT genotype was also found to be associated with higher values of all anthropometric variables (except height and waist-to-hip ratio). Moreover, the interaction between the CT genotype of the rs1421085 and overweight/obesity was found to influence several metabolic parameters (raised blood pressure, product of triglyceride and glucose index, triglyceride levels, LDL-C, VLDL-C, coronary risk index, atherogenic index, and triglyceride-to-HDL-C ratio). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the rs1421085 was found to be associated with overweight/obesity and related anthropometric traits independent of age and gender in Pakistani population. Moreover, this variant was found to influence various metabolic traits in the presence of overweight/obesity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, case-control analytic study.

Association of BDNF rs6265 and MC4R rs17782313 with metabolic syndrome in Pakistanis.

The current case-control study sought the association of BDNF rs6265 and MC4R rs17782313 with metabolic syndrome (MetS), MetS components and other related metabolic parameters in a sample of Pakistani subjects. Fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and homeostatic model assessment of insulin sensitivity showed a significantly lower mean whereas body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), cholesterol to HDL-C ratio, TG to HDL-C ratio, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, visceral adiposity index, lipid accumulation product and the product of TG and glucose showed a significantly higher mean in the presence of MetS. Reduced HDL-C appeared as the most frequent and hypertriglyceridemia as the least frequent component of MetS whereas clustering of reduced HDL-C + abdominal obesity (AO) + hyperglycemia appeared as the most prevalent combination of MetS components. Moreover, BDNF rs6265 showed BMI and gender independent association with increased risk of MetS in Pakistani individuals whereas MC4R rs17782313 showed BMI and gender dependent association with increased risk of MetS in Pakistani females. In addition, BDNF rs6265 and MC4R rs17782313 showed gender-dependent associations with decreased risk of having low HDL-C in males and increased risk of having abdominal obesity in females, respectively. However, no association was observed for metabolic variables other than components of MetS across genotypes of both BDNF rs6265 and MC4R rs17782313.