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FTO polymorphisms in oceanic populations

Journal of Human Genetics volume 52, pages 1031–1035 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

It has been suggested that Neel’s "thrifty genotype" model may account for high body weights in some Oceanic populations, which presumably arose in modern times. In European populations, common variants (rs1421085-C, rs17817449-G, and rs9939609-A) in the fat mass and obesity (FTO associated) were recently found to be associated with body mass index (BMI) or obesity. In this study, we investigated the population frequencies of these variants in six Oceanic populations (Melanesians, Micronesians, and Polynesians) and tested for an association with BMI. Unlike European populations, the Oceanic populations displayed no significant association between the FTO polymorphisms and BMI. These variants were in strong linkage disequilibrium. The population frequencies ranged between 4.2 and 30.3% in the six Oceanic populations, and were similar to those in southeast and east Asian populations. Our study of the FTO polymorphisms has generated no evidence to support the thrifty genotype hypothesis for Oceanic populations.

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Acknowledgments

We are deeply grateful to the people of Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Thailand for their kind cooperation in providing blood samples for testing. We thank Drs Taniela Palu, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Tonga; Viliami Tangi, Diabetes Clinic, Kingdom of Tonga; and Kazumichi Katayama, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University for cooperation in the study of the Tongan population. We also thank the chiefs, elders, and church leaders in the participant communities, especially Sir. Ikan Rove of the Christian Fellowship Church of New Georgia Island in the western Solomon Islands, for their understanding and permission to conduct the research. Thanks are also due to Helena Goldie Hospital, Munda, Western Province, Solomon Islands and Gizo Hospital, Gizo, Western Province, Solomon Islands for help in collecting and storing the blood samples. We also thank Dr George Malefoasi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Solomon Islands, and Mr James Pada, Helena Goldie Hospital, Munda, Western Province, Solomon Islands for supporting the research. We are grateful to Dr Duangporn Nakapunchai for kind assistance with collecting blood samples from Thai subjects. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Jun Ohashi, Izumi Naka & Katsushi Tokunaga

  2. Department of Forensic Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan

    Ryosuke Kimura

  3. School of Nursing, Fukuoka Prefectural University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Kazumi Natsuhara

  4. Department of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan

    Taro Yamauchi

  5. ASNET Promotion Office, Division for International Relations, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Takuro Furusawa

  6. Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma, Japan

    Minato Nakazawa

  7. School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, Hyogo, Japan

    Yuji Ataka

  8. Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Jintana Patarapotikul & Pornlada Nuchnoi

  9. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Takafumi Ishida

  10. Department of Environmental Sociology, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Tsukasa Inaoka

  11. Information Center, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiro Matsumura

  12. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ibaraki, Japan

    Ryutaro Ohtsuka

Authors
  1. Jun Ohashi
  2. Izumi Naka
  3. Ryosuke Kimura
  4. Kazumi Natsuhara
  5. Taro Yamauchi
  6. Takuro Furusawa
  7. Minato Nakazawa
  8. Yuji Ataka
  9. Jintana Patarapotikul
  10. Pornlada Nuchnoi
  11. Katsushi Tokunaga
  12. Takafumi Ishida
  13. Tsukasa Inaoka
  14. Yasuhiro Matsumura
  15. Ryutaro Ohtsuka

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Ohashi.

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Cite this article

Ohashi, J., Naka, I., Kimura, R. et al. FTO polymorphisms in oceanic populations. J Hum Genet 52, 1031–1035 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10038-007-0198-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10038-007-0198-2

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