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Genetics of Serum Carotenoid Levels and Obesity Related Traits in Mexican American Children
Author(s) -
Farook Vidya S.,
Reddivari Lavanya,
Puppala Sobha,
Arya Rector,
Fowler Sharon P.,
Chittoor Geetha,
Mohan Birunda,
Jenkinson Christopher P.,
Lynch Jane L.,
DeFronzo Ralph A.,
Blangero John,
Hale Daniel E.,
Duggirala Ravindranath,
Vanamala Jairam
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.865.14
Subject(s) - carotenoid , obesity , carotene , waist , biology , medicine , endocrinology , food science
Serum carotenoid status is a putative biomarker for fruit and vegetable consumption. The objective of this study was to determine the genetics of serum carotenoid levels and their correlations with obesity related traits in Mexican American (MA) children. We measured serum α‐ and β‐carotenoid levels in 670 non‐diabetic MA children, aged 6–17 years, using UPLC‐PDA. We determined heritabilities for both carotenoids and assessed genetic correlations between them and obesity‐related traits. Carotenoid values were transformed for these analyses, and adjusted for significant effects of age and sex terms. Carotenoid levels were highly heritable (α‐carotene: h 2 =0.81, P = 6.7 × 10 −11 ; β‐carotene: h 2 =0.90, P = 3.5 × 10 −15 ). We found significant (P < 0.05) negative phenotypic correlations between carotenoids and four obesity‐related traits: BMI, waist circumference, fat mass (DXA), and triglycerides (range: α‐carotene = −0.19 to −0.12 and β‐carotene = −0.24 to −0.13), and positive correlations with HDL‐cholesterol (α‐carotene = 0.17 and β‐carotene = 0.24). However, all genetic correlations were significantly negative for β‐carotene and these four obesity related traits (range: −0.30 to −0.23), but positive for HDL‐cholesterol (0.31). These results suggest that common genetic factors influence β‐carotene and obesity‐related traits in MA children. Grant Funding Source : This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Health (R01 HD049051, HD041111, DK53889, DK42273, P01 HL45522, DK47482, MH59490 and M01‐RR‐01346), Voelcker Foundation and National Research Initiative Grant 2009–55200‐05197 from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (2009–2012).