Fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene polymorphism (rs9939609): Genotypic, allelic frequency in Malay obese attributes

• Main Authors: Atif, Amin Baig, Yasrul Izad, Abu Bakar, Ahmad Zubaidi, A.latif, Nordin, Simbak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Q Science (General); QH426 Genetics
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5801/1/FH02-FP-18-13121.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/5801/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

The fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) is reported to be the common gene associated with obesity. FTO is involved with its role in nucleic acid demethylation and energy balance towards feeding behaviours. FTO polymorphism (T>A) has been reported to be associated with high BMI, weight and waist circumference in different population globally. The rs9939609 T>A, polymorphism is widely studied SNP in association with obesity and associated inflammatory disorders because of its non-inflammatory nature. The objective is to elucidate the contribution of genotypic and allelic frequencies of FTO rs9939609 (A/T) polymorphism towards rising prevalence and its association with obesity among Malay obese attributes. This cross-sectional study includes a total of 217 Malay volunteers; 94 healthy obese (BMI ≥30kg/m2 ) and 123 normal healthy non-obese (18.5 ≤BMI ≤24.99 kg/m2 ), that were recruited following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood, and genotyping analysis was performed by means of RFLP-PCR. The FTO genotypic and allelic frequencies among the subjects were calculated and compared by Chi-Square test. Statistical significant was accepted at p < 0.05. The analysis of FTO T>A gene polymorphism in all subjects found frequencies of 87.23%, 7.45% and 5.31% for the TT, AT and AA genotypes, respectively. The allele frequency was 94.69% for the T allele and 12.77% for the A allele. The risk allele „A‟ is found least associated with obesity among Malay obese. This study concludes that the genotypic and allelic distribution of FTO gene polymorphism (T>A) was much lower than other reported in ASEAN populations. The other studies on Malaysian population also found similar results in two regions of Malaysia. Therefore, it is concluded that FTO (T>A) polymorphism is not/least associated with obesity but further investigations are required on other ethnicities to validate our findings in Malaysia.