Affiliation

• ¹Department of Individual Family and Community Education, Nutrition and Dietetics Program, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
• ²Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
• ³Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Corresponding Author

Cara J. Garner, Department of Individual Family and Community Education, University of New Mexico Nutrition and Dietetics Program MSC05 3040, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87131, USA. Tel: 1-505-377-8846; Fax: 1-505-277-8361; E-mail: caraga71@unm.edu

Citation

Garner, C.J, et al. NAFLD Susceptibility Genes and Their Association with Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity in a New Mexico Population. (2015) J Diabetes Obes 2(2): 48- 59.

Copy rights

© 2015 Garner C.J. This is an Open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Abstract

Objective: Genome-wide association studies have identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that increase the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). One purpose of this study was to determine the frequencies of NAFLD susceptibility SNPs in a non-Hispanic white and Hispanic population who attended a clinic in northeast Albuquerque, NM. Another goal was to determine associations with selected indicators in this New Mexican population.
Methods: This cohort study involving 168 volunteer subjects in the NM population (88 non-Hispanic whites, 63 Hispanics, 4 Native Americans, 11 Asian Americans, 2 unreported ethnicity).Eight SNPs within 6 NAFLD susceptibility genes including PNPLA3 (rs738409), LYPLAL1 (rs12137855), APOC3 (rs2854116, rs2854117), GCKR (rs780094, rs741038), FABP2 (rs1799883), PEMT (rs7946) were analyzed by genotyping using the TaqMan genotyping assay (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Statistical analyses were carried out using statistical package SAS 9.3.
Results: The NAFLD allele frequencies were similar in non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics except for PNPLA3 (rs738409), FABP2 (rs1799883), and PEMT (rs7946). Eight SNPs in 5 NAFLD susceptibility genes were significantly associated OR marginally associated with selected indicators for NAFLD, metabolic syndrome, overweight, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia. No SNPs were significantly associated with the same indicator in both the non-Hispanic white and Hispanic groups.
Conclusions: In this population of non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics, there were only heterozygotes for the APOC3 derived alle le whereas for all other genes tested, both heterozygotes and homozygotes were found. Associations of alleles with indicators of chronic disease were different in non-Hispanic whites compared to Hispanics.