Genetic effects of adiponectin single nucleotide polymorphisms on the clustering of metabolic risk factors in young Korean adults

Little is known if lifestyle-related risk factors modulate the adiponectin genetic effects on its outcome phenotypes. The aims of the study were to investigate whether the association between the adiponectin gene two SNPs (+45T>G, rs2241766 and +276G>T, rs1501299) and a clustering of metabolic risk factors is modified by both cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and insulin resistance in a study sample of 1,622 young Korean adults (941 men and 681 women, mean age 22.9 ± 2.4 years). The clustering of metabolic risk factors was defined as a sum of Z scores for waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), triacylglycerols (TAG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting glucose. With respect to SNP +45T>G, the TT genotype had significantly higher values for BMI, WC, systolic BP, TAG, insulin, and a clustered risk score than did the TG+GG genotype. The genetic effect of SNP +45 on the clustered risk score remained significant even after controlling for age, sex, and smoking (P = 0.019). However, the genetic impact was no longer significant when additionally controlling for CRF (P = 0.097) and fasting insulin (P = 0.181), respectively. With respect to SNP +276G>T, the GT+TT genotypes had significantly higher values for BMI and TAG than did the TT genotype. In summary, the present findings suggest that the SNPs at position +45 and +276 are associated with several of metabolic risk factors; however, the genetic effect of SNP +45T/G variant on the clustered risk score is modulated by both CRF and insulin resistance.