The FTO genetic variants are associated with dietary intake and body mass index amongst Emirati population.

Background: The risk of obesity is determined by complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Little research to date has investigated the interaction between gene and food intake. The aim of the current study is to explore the potential effect of fat mass and obesity-associated protein gene (FTO) rs9939609 and rs9930506 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the pattern of food intake in the Emirati population.

Methods: Adult healthy Emirati subjects with Body mass index (BMI) of 16-40 kg/m2 were included in the study. Genotyping for FTO rs9939609(A>T) and rs9930506(A>G) was performed using DNA from saliva samples. Subjects were categorized according to the WHO classification by calculating the BMI to compare different classes. Dietary intake was assessed by a sixty-one-item FFQ that estimated food and beverage intakes over the past year. The daily energy, macronutrient, and micronutrient consumption were computed.

Results: We included 169 subjects in the final analysis (mean age 30.49± 9.1years, 57.4% females). The mean BMI of the study population was 26.19 kg/m2. Both SNPs were in Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium. The rs9939609 AA genotype was significantly associated with higher BMI (p = 0.004); the effect was significant in females (p = 0.028), but not in males (p = 0.184). Carbohydrate intake was significantly higher in AA subjects with a trend of lower fat intake compared to other genotypes. The odds ratio for the AA was 3.78 in the fourth quartile and 2.67 for the A/T in the second quartile of total carbohydrate intake, considering the first quartile as a reference (95% CI = 1.017-14.1 and 1.03-6.88, respectively). Fat intake was significantly lower in the FTO rs9930506 GG subjects. The presence of FTO rs9930506 GG genotype decreased the fat intake in subjects with FTO rs9939609 AA (p = 0.037).

Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the interaction of the FTO risk alleles on the food intake in Emirati subjects. The FTO rs9939609 AA subjects had higher carbohydrate and lower fat intake. The latter was accentuated in presence of rs9930506 GG genotype.