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

Background: 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. Aim: This study analysed the association between the FTO gene variant rs17817449 (G > T) and obesity and obesity-related phenotypes in a north Indian population. Subjects and methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.