TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic associations with neural reward responsivity to food cues in children
AU - Yeum, Dabin
AU - Renier, Timothy J.
AU - Carlson, Delaina D.
AU - Ballarino, Grace A.
AU - Lansigan, Reina K.
AU - Meyer, Meghan L.
AU - Loos, Ruth J. F.
AU - Emond, Jennifer A.
AU - Masterson, Travis D.
AU - Gilbert-Diamond, Diane
N1 - Copyright © 2024 Yeum, Renier, Carlson, Ballarino, Lansigan, Meyer, Loos, Emond, Masterson and Gilbert-Diamond.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To test associations of candidate obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and obesity polygenic risk scores (PRS) with neural reward reactivity to food cues.METHODS: After consuming a pre-load meal, 9-12-year-old children completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm with exposure to food and non-food commercials. Genetic exposures included FTO rs9939609, MC4R rs571312, and a pediatric-specific obesity PRS. A targeted region-of-interest (ROI) analysis for 7 bilateral reward regions and a whole-brain analysis were conducted. Independent associations between each genetic factor and reward responsivity to food cues in each ROI were evaluated using linear models.RESULTS: Analyses included 151 children (M = 10.9 years). Each FTO rs9939609 obesity risk allele was related to a higher food-cue-related response in the right lateral hypothalamus after controlling for covariates including the current BMI Z-score (p < 0.01), however, the association did not remain significant after applying the multiple testing correction. MC4R rs571312 and the PRS were not related to heightened food-cue-related reward responsivity in any examined regions. The whole-brain analysis did not identify additional regions of food-cue-related response related to the examined genetic factors.CONCLUSION: Children genetically at risk for obesity, as indicated by the FTO genotype, may be predisposed to higher food-cue-related reward responsivity in the lateral hypothalamus in the sated state, which, in turn, could contribute to overconsumption.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03766191, identifier NCT03766191.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To test associations of candidate obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and obesity polygenic risk scores (PRS) with neural reward reactivity to food cues.METHODS: After consuming a pre-load meal, 9-12-year-old children completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm with exposure to food and non-food commercials. Genetic exposures included FTO rs9939609, MC4R rs571312, and a pediatric-specific obesity PRS. A targeted region-of-interest (ROI) analysis for 7 bilateral reward regions and a whole-brain analysis were conducted. Independent associations between each genetic factor and reward responsivity to food cues in each ROI were evaluated using linear models.RESULTS: Analyses included 151 children (M = 10.9 years). Each FTO rs9939609 obesity risk allele was related to a higher food-cue-related response in the right lateral hypothalamus after controlling for covariates including the current BMI Z-score (p < 0.01), however, the association did not remain significant after applying the multiple testing correction. MC4R rs571312 and the PRS were not related to heightened food-cue-related reward responsivity in any examined regions. The whole-brain analysis did not identify additional regions of food-cue-related response related to the examined genetic factors.CONCLUSION: Children genetically at risk for obesity, as indicated by the FTO genotype, may be predisposed to higher food-cue-related reward responsivity in the lateral hypothalamus in the sated state, which, in turn, could contribute to overconsumption.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03766191, identifier NCT03766191.
U2 - 10.3389/fnut.2024.1387514
DO - 10.3389/fnut.2024.1387514
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 39385774
SN - 2296-861X
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Nutrition
JF - Frontiers in Nutrition
M1 - 1387514
ER -