Preliminary findings on the relationship between gender, FTO rs9939609, leptin & ghrelin levels and eating behaviours of adults

Abstract Background The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mutations in the first intron of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene (rs9939609) have been reported to be associated with obesity and eating behaviour in children and adults in widespread populations. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between FTO gene polymorphism and eating behaviour in adults with different genders. Methods The present study included 200 participants (100 males,100 females) aged 18-65 years, who were genotyped for FTO gene (rs9939609) polymorphism. Eating behaviour were evaluated via revised 18-item of the three-factor eating questionnaire(TFEQ-R18). Serum leptin& ghrelin were analysed. ABI TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays (LightCycler 480 System, Roche) was used to determine the intronic FTO gene rs9939609 (T/A) SNPs. Results Total 68.4% of individuals with AA genotype which was homozygote risky genotype for obesity were female and 31.6% were male(p<0.05). When eating behaviour scores of individuals according to genders, the difference between the cognitive restraint scores (M:16.7±2.74 vs. F:16.1±2.34; p<0.05) and emotional eating score(M:10.2±2.26 vs. F:8.5±2.84) was statistically significant(p0.05). When examining eating behaviour scores of individuals according to genotypes; it was found that no statistically significant difference between the sub-dimensions and total scores of TFEQ-R18. However, total score of TFEQ-R18 was negatively associated with the serum leptin in females with AA genotype(p<0.05), and positively associated with the serum ghrelin levels in males with TT genotype(p<0.05). Conclusion It was determined that eating behaviours in adults differed by gender rather than genotypes of FTO gene (rs9939609) polymorphism and gender was important factor for eating behaviour related to FTO gene rs9939609 genotypes in association with serum leptin-ghrelin level.