Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications
Publication Date
7-28-2021
Journal
Communications Biology
DOI
10.1038/s42003-021-02431-4
PMID
34321601
PMCID
PMC8319323
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
7-28-2021
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Fatty Acid Desaturases, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Genetic Variation, Heredity, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Indians, North American, Longitudinal Studies, Multigene Family, United States, Risk factors, Genetic association study, Heritable quantitative trait
Abstract
Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) have critical signaling roles that regulate dyslipidemia and inflammation. Genetic variation in the FADS gene cluster accounts for a large portion of interindividual differences in circulating and tissue levels of LC-PUFAs, with the genotypes most strongly predictive of low LC-PUFA levels at strikingly higher frequencies in Amerind ancestry populations. In this study, we examined relationships between genetic ancestry and FADS variation in 1102 Hispanic American participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. We demonstrate strong negative associations between Amerind genetic ancestry and LC-PUFA levels. The FADS rs174537 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) accounted for much of the AI ancestry effect on LC-PUFAs, especially for low levels of n-3 LC-PUFAs. Rs174537 was also strongly associated with several metabolic, inflammatory and anthropomorphic traits including circulating triglycerides (TGs) and E-selectin in MESA Hispanics. Our study demonstrates that Amerind ancestry provides a useful and readily available tool to identify individuals most likely to have FADS-related n-3 LC-PUFA deficiencies and associated cardiovascular risk.
Included in
Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons, Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Commons, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Commons, Nutrition Commons