Genetic variants in genes involved in creatine biosynthesis in patients with severe obesity or anorexia nervosa

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Luisa S. Rajcsanyi - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)
  • Anne Hoffmann - , Leipzig University (Author)
  • Adhideb Ghosh - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Birgit Matrisch-Dinkler - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)
  • Yiran Zheng - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)
  • Triinu Peters - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)
  • Wenfei Sun - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Hua Dong - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Falko Noé - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Christian Wolfrum - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann - , RWTH Aachen University (Author)
  • Jochen Seitz - , RWTH Aachen University (Author)
  • Martina de Zwaan - , Hannover Medical School (MHH) (Author)
  • Wolfgang Herzog - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Stefan Ehrlich - , Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Stephan Zipfel - , University of Tübingen, University Hospital Tübingen (Author)
  • Katrin Giel - , University of Tübingen, University Hospital Tübingen (Author)
  • Karin Egberts - , University of Würzburg (Author)
  • Roland Burghardt - , Oberberg Fachklinik Fasanenkiez Berlin (Author)
  • Manuel Föcker - , University of Münster (Author)
  • Linus T. Tsai - , Harvard University (Author)
  • Timo D. Müller - , German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health (Author)
  • Matthias Blüher - , Leipzig University (Author)
  • Johannes Hebebrand - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)
  • Raphael Hirtz - , University of Duisburg-Essen, Ruhr University Bochum (Author)
  • Anke Hinney - , University of Duisburg-Essen (Author)

Abstract

Increased thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue might have an obesity-reducing effect in humans. In transgenic mice, depletion of genes involved in creatine metabolism results in disrupted thermogenic capacity and altered effects of high-fat feeding on body weight. Data analyses of a sex-stratified genome-wide association study (GWAS) for body mass index (BMI) within the genomic regions of genes of this pathway (CKB, CKMT1B, and GATM) revealed one sex-dimorphic BMI-associated SNP in CKB (rs1136165). The effect size was larger in females than in males. A mutation screen of the coding regions of these three candidate genes in a screening group (192 children and adolescents with severe obesity, 192 female patients with anorexia nervosa, and 192 healthy-lean controls) identified five variants in each, CKB and GATM, and nine variants in the coding sequence of CKMT1B. Non-synonymous variants identified in CKB and CKMT1B were genotyped in an independent confirmation study group (781 families with severe obesity (trios), 320 children and adolescents with severe obesity, and 253 healthy-lean controls). In silico tools predicted mainly benign yet protein-destabilizing potentials. A transmission disequilibrium test in trios with severe obesity indicated an obesity-protective effect of the infrequent allele at rs149544188 located in CKMT1B. Subsequent correlation analyses in 1,479 individuals of the Leipzig Obesity BioBank revealed distinct correlations of CKB with the other two genes in omental visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). Furthermore, between-subject comparisons of gene expression levels showed generally higher expressions of all three genes of interest in VAT than in SAT. Future in vitro analyses are needed to assess the functional implications of these findings.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number1128133
JournalFrontiers in genetics
Volume14
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-2132-4445/work/150328113

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • BAT, creatine metabolism, GWAS, in silico, TDT