1. Associations between a polymorphism in the pleiotropic GCKR and Age-related phenotypes: the HALCyon programme
- Author
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Cooper, Rachel, Alfred, T, Ben-Shlomo, Y, Cooper, R, Hardy, R, Deary, IJ, Elliott, J, Harris, SE, Kivimaki, M, Kumari, M, Power, C, Starr, JM, Kuh, D, Day, IN, and team, HALCyon study
- Subjects
Male ,Aging ,Anatomy and Physiology ,Epidemiology ,medicine.medical_treatment ,lcsh:Medicine ,Genome-wide association study ,Body Mass Index ,Cohort Studies ,Cognition ,0302 clinical medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,lcsh:Science ,Musculoskeletal System ,Lung ,Aged, 80 and over ,2. Zero hunger ,Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,Multidisciplinary ,Hand Strength ,Glucokinase regulatory protein ,biology ,Cognitive Neurology ,Epidemiology of Aging ,Middle Aged ,Lipids ,Phenotype ,Neurology ,Genetic Epidemiology ,Medicine ,Female ,Research Article ,Adult ,Genotype ,Single-nucleotide polymorphism ,Motor Activity ,Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ,03 medical and health sciences ,Sex Factors ,medicine ,Humans ,SNP ,Allele ,Biology ,Alleles ,Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ,Aged ,030304 developmental biology ,Population Biology ,Insulin ,lcsh:R ,United Kingdom ,Minor allele frequency ,Geriatrics ,Genetic Polymorphism ,biology.protein ,lcsh:Q ,Physiological Processes ,Body mass index ,Population Genetics - Abstract
Background The glucokinase regulatory protein encoded by GCKR plays an important role in glucose metabolism and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1260326 (P446L) in the gene has been associated with several age-related biomarkers, including triglycerides, glucose, insulin and apolipoproteins. However, associations between SNPs in the gene and other ageing phenotypes such as cognitive and physical capability have not been reported. Methods As part of the Healthy Ageing across the Life Course (HALCyon) collaborative research programme, men and women from five UK cohorts aged between 44 and 90+ years were genotyped for rs1260326. Meta-analysis was used to pool within-study genotypic associations between the SNP and several age-related phenotypes, including body mass index (BMI), blood lipid levels, lung function, and cognitive and physical capability. Results We confirm the associations between the minor allele of the SNP and higher triglycerides and lower glucose levels. We also observed a triglyceride-independent association between the minor allele and lower BMI (pooled beta on z-score = −0.04, p-value = 0.0001, n = 16,251). Furthermore, there was some evidence for gene-environment interactions, including physical activity attenuating the effects on triglycerides. However, no associations were observed with measures of cognitive and physical capability. Conclusion Findings from middle-aged to older adults confirm associations between rs1260326 GCKR and triglycerides and glucose, suggest possible gene-environment interactions, but do not provide evidence that its relevance extends to cognitive and physical capability.
- Published
- 2013