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TAS1R3 and UCN2 Transcript Levels in Blood Cells Are Associated With Sugary and Fatty Food Consumption in Children
T Priego1, J Sánchez1, C Picó1
1Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Nutrition and Biotechnology (Nutrigenomics) (T.P., J.S., C.P., A.P.), University of the Balearic Islands and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, CIBEROBN, Palma de Mallorca 07122, Spain; Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology-BIPS (W.A.), Bremen D-28359, Germany; Institute of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science (W.A.), Bremen University, Bremen 28359, Germany; Department of Public Health/Department of Movement and Sport Sciences (S.D.H.), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent 9000, Belgium; Research and Education of Child Health Institute (Y.K.), Strovolos 2015, Cyprus; Department of Public Health and Community Medicine (L.L.), University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 405 30, Sweden; Department of Pediatrics (D.M.), University of Pécs, Pécs 7622, Hungary; Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development Research group (L.A.M.), Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza 50018, Spain; Unit of Epidemiology and Population Genetics (P.R., A.S.), Institute of Food Sciences, National Research Council, Avellino 83100, Italy; and National Institute for Health Development (T.V.), Tervise Arengu Instituut, Tallinn 11619, Estonia.
Context:
New types of dietary exposure biomarkers are needed to implement effective strategies for obesity prevention in children. Of special interest are biomarkers of consumption of food rich in simple sugars and fat because their intake has been associated with obesity development. Peripheral blood cells (PBCs) represent a promising new tool for identifying novel, transcript-based biomarkers.
Objective:
This study aimed to study potential associations between the transcripts of taste receptor type 1 member 3 (TAS1R3) and urocortin II (UCN2) genes in PBCs and the frequency of sugary and fatty food consumption in children.
Design, Setting, And Participants:
Four hundred sixty-three children from the IDEFICS cohort were selected to include a similar number of boys and girls, both normal-weight and overweight, belonging to eight European countries.
Main Outcome Measures:
Anthropometric parameters (measured at baseline and in a subset of 193 children after 2 years), food consumption frequency and transcript levels of TAS1R3 and UCN2 genes in PBCs were measured.
Results:
Children with low-frequency consumption of sugary foods displayed higher TAS1R3 expression levels with respect to those with intermediate or high frequency. In turn, children with high-frequency consumption of fatty foods showed lower UCN2 expression levels with respect to those with low or intermediate frequency. Moreover, transcripts of TAS1R3 were related with body mass index and fat-mass changes after a 2-year follow-up period, with low expression levels of this gene being related with increased fat accumulation over time.
Conclusion:
The transcripts of TAS1R3 and UCN2 in PBCs may be considered potential biomarkers of consumption of sugary and fatty food, respectively, to complement data of food-intake questionnaires.
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