{"title":"Discrimination Exposure and Polygenic Risk for Obesity in Adulthood: Testing Gene-Environment Correlations and Interactions.","authors":"Adolfo G Cuevas, Frank D Mann, Robert F Krueger","doi":"10.1159/000529527","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Exposure to discrimination has emerged as a risk factor for obesity. It remains unclear, however, whether the genotype of the individual can modulate the sensitivity or response to discrimination exposure (gene × environment interaction) or increase the likelihood of experiencing discrimination (gene-environment correlation).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was an observational study of 4,102 white/European Americans in the Health and Retirement Study with self-reported, biological assessments, and genotyped data from 2006 to 2014. Discrimination was operationalized using the average of nine Everyday Discrimination Scale items. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were calculated using the weighted sum of risk alleles based on studies conducted by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that greater PRS-BMI was significantly associated with more reports of discrimination (β = 0.04 ± 0.02; p = 0.037). Further analysis showed that measured BMI partially mediated the association between PRS-BMI and discrimination. There was no evidence that the association between discrimination and BMI, or the association between discrimination and WC, differed by PRS-BMI or PRS-WC, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings suggest that individuals with genetic liability for obesity may experience greater discrimination in their lifetime, consistent with a gene-environment correlation hypothesis. There was no evidence of a gene-environment interaction. More genome-wide association studies in diverse populations are needed to improve generalizability of study findings. In the meantime, prevention and clinical intervention efforts that seek to reduce exposure to all forms of discrimination may help reduce obesity at the population level.</p>","PeriodicalId":18030,"journal":{"name":"Lifestyle Genomics","volume":" ","pages":"90-97"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11078300/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Lifestyle Genomics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1159/000529527","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/2/7 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GENETICS & HEREDITY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Exposure to discrimination has emerged as a risk factor for obesity. It remains unclear, however, whether the genotype of the individual can modulate the sensitivity or response to discrimination exposure (gene × environment interaction) or increase the likelihood of experiencing discrimination (gene-environment correlation).
Methods: This was an observational study of 4,102 white/European Americans in the Health and Retirement Study with self-reported, biological assessments, and genotyped data from 2006 to 2014. Discrimination was operationalized using the average of nine Everyday Discrimination Scale items. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were calculated using the weighted sum of risk alleles based on studies conducted by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium.
Results: We found that greater PRS-BMI was significantly associated with more reports of discrimination (β = 0.04 ± 0.02; p = 0.037). Further analysis showed that measured BMI partially mediated the association between PRS-BMI and discrimination. There was no evidence that the association between discrimination and BMI, or the association between discrimination and WC, differed by PRS-BMI or PRS-WC, respectively.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that individuals with genetic liability for obesity may experience greater discrimination in their lifetime, consistent with a gene-environment correlation hypothesis. There was no evidence of a gene-environment interaction. More genome-wide association studies in diverse populations are needed to improve generalizability of study findings. In the meantime, prevention and clinical intervention efforts that seek to reduce exposure to all forms of discrimination may help reduce obesity at the population level.
期刊介绍:
Lifestyle Genomics aims to provide a forum for highlighting new advances in the broad area of lifestyle-gene interactions and their influence on health and disease. The journal welcomes novel contributions that investigate how genetics may influence a person’s response to lifestyle factors, such as diet and nutrition, natural health products, physical activity, and sleep, amongst others. Additionally, contributions examining how lifestyle factors influence the expression/abundance of genes, proteins and metabolites in cell and animal models as well as in humans are also of interest. The journal will publish high-quality original research papers, brief research communications, reviews outlining timely advances in the field, and brief research methods pertaining to lifestyle genomics. It will also include a unique section under the heading “Market Place” presenting articles of companies active in the area of lifestyle genomics. Research articles will undergo rigorous scientific as well as statistical/bioinformatic review to ensure excellence.