GENETIC-VARIATION ON CHROMOSOME-1 ASSOCIATED WITH VARIATION IN BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION IN MEN

Background Interindividual variation in fat deposition in swine is determined by loci on porcine chromosome 4, which are contained in a region that is syntenic with part of the long arm of human chromosome 1. We hypothesized that genomic variation of chromosome Iq would be associated with variation in the ratio of waist-to-hip circumference in male North American Hutterites, a genetic isolate characterized by significant relatedness and sharing of environmental factors. Methods and Results In 316 male Hutterites, we tested for phenotype-genotype association of two DNA polymorphisms on chromosome Iq and the ratio of waist-to-hip circumference. We included control loci on 10 other chromosomes in the multivariate model. We observed that DNA variation on chromosome 1q was significantly associated with variation in the ratio of waist-to-hip circumference in men (P=.0029). Conclusions The association of DNA variation chromosome Iq with the ratio of waist-to-hip circumference in male Hutterites suggests that there are important structural elements in this genomic region that have a functional impact on body fat distribution.