Association of FTO rs17817449 SNP with obesity and associated physiological parameters in a north Indian population

Obesity is a very common disorder directly linked with various diseases such as type-2 diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis. Variants in the FTO gene have been associated with Body Mass Index in Western European and North American populations.

This study analysed the association between the FTO gene variant rs17817449 (G>T) and obesity and obesity-related phenotypes in a north Indian population.

A total of 642 subjects, 309 obese and 333 non-obese individuals, were included in this case-control study. Genotyping of FTO gene (rs17817449) polymorphism for all subjects was performed by the PCR-RFLP method.

Significant associations were found for FTO rs17817449 SNP with obesity and obesity-related phenotypes. The strongest associations were observed between the rs17817449 and fasting blood glucose, insulin, homeostasis model of assessment--insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and fat mass under a recessive model.

This study replicated the genetic association of SNP of FTO (rs17817449) with obesity in a north Indian population and, to the authors' knowledge; this is the first such association study in a north Indian population. This study also established that SNP in intron 1 of FTO (rs17817449) are strongly associated with several measures of adiposity and are also associated with plasma insulin, insulin resistance, percentage body fat and fat mass.