Assessment of Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated Gene (rs9939609) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Susceptibility to Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

This study is a case-control hospital-based study conducted from December 2016 to November 2020 in Khartoum State in Sudan. This study aimed to assessment of fat mass and obesity-associated gene (rs9939609) single nucleotide polymorphism in susceptibility to metabolic syndrome in Sudanese patients. Two hundred fifteen Sudanese patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome according to international diabetes federation (IDF) criteria at three different hospitals (Zinam Diabetic Centre, Gaber-Aboeliz, and Rebate Teaching Hospital), age range 37-84 years old. And two hundred fifteen healthy individuals were considered as a control group, age and sex were matched in both groups. Ethical approval for this study was obtained by Ethical Committee of Ministry of Health, after approving from Scientific Committee of the College of Medical Laboratory Science at Sudan University of Science and Technology, written informed consent was obtained from all study subjects. Waist circumference, BMI, and blood pressure were measured. Blood samples were analyzed for sd-LDL using the ELISA technique, lipids and fasting blood glucose were measured by Mindray automation, blood genomic DNA was extracted using kits, and genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs 9939609) of FTO gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Whole DNA sequencing was done by using HiSeq Macrogen Company (Korea). Data were computed and analyzed by using SPSS version 21 and bioinformatics tools. The results of the study showed that there were significantly increased Waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, fasting blood glucose, Systolic, Diastolic blood pressure, and decreased HDL-C in patients compared to control with P-value (0.000). An insignificant difference was found in sd-LDL in the case compared to control with P-value (0.209). The heterozygous and homozygous mutants a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in our population, with P- value (0.000, 0.017) and OR (5.191, 2.297) receptively. The result also showed significantly increased distribution of mutant A allele in metabolic syndrome patients compared to the T allele in healthy individuals. The FTO (rs9939609) gene polymorphism showed an insignificant association between FTO gene polymorphism and study variable (age, sex, dietary habits, and physical activity), moreover, a significant association was found between the FTO gene and BMI with P-value (0.017), on the other hand, significantly increased total cholesterol and dietary intake in AT/AA Genotypes compared to TT genotype. Insignificant difference in metabolic syndrome components between males and females except in BMI significantly increased in females compared to males with P-value (0.016). In conclusion, the FTO (rs 9939609) gene is considered as a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in Sudanese patients.