TCF7L2 rs7903146 variant does not associate with smallness for gestational age in the French population.
BACKGROUND
In adults, the TCF7L2 rs7903146 T allele, commonly associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D), has been also associated with a lower body mass index (BMI) in T2D individuals and with a smaller waist circumference in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance.


METHODS
The present association study aimed at analyzing the contribution of the rs7903146 SNP to smallness for gestational age (SGA) and metabolic profiles in subjects with SGA or appropriate for gestational age birth weight (AGA). Two groups of French Caucasian subjects were selected on birth data: SGA (birth weight < 10th percentile; n = 764), and AGA (25th < birth weight < 75th percentile; n = 627). Family-based association tests were also performed in 3,012 subjects from 628 SGA and AGA pedigrees.


RESULTS
The rs7903146 genotypic distributions between AGA (30.7%) and SGA (29.0%) were not statistically different (allelic OR = 0.92 [0.78-1.09], p = 0.34). Family association-based studies did not show a distortion of T allele transmission in SGA subjects (p = 0.52). No significant effect of the T allele was detected on any of the metabolic parameters in the SGA group. However, in the AGA group, trends towards a lower insulin secretion (p = 0.03) and a higher fasting glycaemia (p = 0.002) were detected in carriers of the T allele.


CONCLUSIONS
The TCF7L2 rs7903146 variant neither increases the risk for SGA nor modulates birth weight and young adulthood glucose homeostasis in French Caucasian subjects born with SGA.
Cauchi
Stéphane
S
CNRS, 8090-Institute of biology, Pasteur Institute, Lille, 59000 France. Stephane.Cauchi@good.ibl.fr
Meyre
David
D
Choquet
Hélène
H
Deghmoun
Samia
S
Durand
Emmanuelle
E
Gaget
Stefan
S
Lecoeur
Cécile
C
Froguel
Philippe
P
Levy-Marchal
Claire
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D058118:Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein
D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; C544894:TCF7L2 protein, human; D058118:Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein