Heritability and genetic correlations of obesity indices with ambulatory and office beat-to-beat blood pressure in the Oman Family Study

Abstract

Objective: To more precisely and comprehensively estimate the genetic and environmental correlations between various indices of obesity and BP. Methods: We estimated heritability and genetic correlations of obesity indices with BP in the Oman family study ( n = 1231). Ambulatory and office beat-to-beat BP was measured and mean values for SBP and DBP during daytime, sleep, 24-h and 10 min at rest were calculated. Different indices were used to quantify obesity and fat distribution: BMI, percentage of body fat (%BF), waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). SOLAR software was used to perform univariate and bivariate quantitative genetic analyses adjusting for age, age 2 , sex, age-sex and age 2 -sex interactions. Results: Heritabilities of BP ranged from 30.2 to 38.2% for ambulatory daytime, 16.8–21.4% for sleeping time, 32.1–40.4% for 24-h and 22–24.4% for office beat-to-beat measurements. Heritabilities for obesity indices were 67.8% for BMI, 52.2% for %BF, 37.3% for waist circumference and 37.9% for WHtR. All obesity measures had consistently positive phenotypic correlations with ambulatory and office beat-to-beat SBP and DBP ( r -range: 0.14–0.32). Genetic correlations of obesity indices with SBP and DBP were higher than environmental correlations ( r G : 0.16–0.50; r E : 0.01–0.31). Conclusion: The considerable genetic overlap between a variety of obesity indices and both ambulatory and office beat-to-beat BP highlights the relevance of pleiotropic genes. Future GWAS analyses should discover the specific genes both influencing obesity indices and BP to help unravel their shared genetic background.

Estimate of the HOMA-IR Cut-off Value Identifying Subjects at Risk of Insulin Resistance Using a Machine Learning Approach

“…Data were obtained from the Oman Family Study, which was conducted during the period 2000–2004. 15 The dataset was obtained from a previous study on 1,344 individuals of Arab ancestry as part of the Oman Family Study conducted in the Nizwa region of Oman. 15 – 17 The data included measures of 26 variables representing anthropometric data, 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SYST and DIAST, respectively), fasting and two-hour glucose and insulin, fasting lipid profile, hormone profile and liver function test.…”

Hypertension Related to Obesity: Pathogenesis, Characteristics and Factors for Control

“…For instance, the Oman family study (n = 1231) showed that all obesity indices (BMI, percentage body fat, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio) had consistently positive phenotypic correlations with ambulatory and office beat-to-beat SBP and DBP. Genetic correlations of obesity indices with hypertension were also higher than environmental correlations [ 43 ]. However, there is still no full agreement on this familial association of adiposity with blood pressure.…”

Association of Genetic Variants With Body-Mass Index and Blood Pressure in Adolescents: A Replication Study

“…The common variants/multiple disease hypothesis first introduced by Becker (2004) posits that correlation between related traits such as adiposity and BP, may be explained at least in part by shared genetic risk factors. The estimated genetic correlation between 24 h ambulatory systolic BP (SBP) and BMI (r g : 0.33; Man et al, 2020) suggests the presence of common genes affecting both traits, but further investigation is needed to identify pleiotropic genes at play. Melka et al (2012) identified three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs16933812 on PAX5, rs7638110 on MRPS22 and rs9930333 on FTO) associated with both BMI and SBP in a population-based sample of 598 adolescents age 12-18 years in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec, Canada as part of the Saguenay Youth Study (SYS).…”

“…In 2015, high blood pressure (BP) and high body mass index (BMI) were the first and fourth risk factors, respectively, for disability-adjusted life-years ( Forouzanfar et al, 2016 ). BP and adiposity are strongly correlated ( Man et al, 2020 ), and higher adiposity is an important risk factor for elevated BP, both in adults ( Jayedi et al, 2018 ) and adolescents ( Chorin et al, 2015 ). The common variants/multiple disease hypothesis first introduced by Becker (2004) posits that correlation between related traits such as adiposity and BP, may be explained at least in part by shared genetic risk factors.…”

“…The common variants/multiple disease hypothesis first introduced by Becker (2004) posits that correlation between related traits such as adiposity and BP, may be explained at least in part by shared genetic risk factors. The estimated genetic correlation between 24h ambulatory systolic BP (SBP) and BMI (r g : 0.33; Man et al, 2020 ) suggests the presence of common genes affecting both traits, but further investigation is needed to identify pleiotropic genes at play.…”