title: Genetic epidemiology of cardiometabolic risk factors and their clustering patterns in Mexican American children and adolescents: the SAFARI Study.
abstract: Pediatric metabolic syndrome (MS) and its cardiometabolic components (MSCs) have become increasingly prevalent, yet little is known about the genetics underlying MS risk in children. We examined the prevalence and genetics of MS-related traits among 670 non-diabetic Mexican American (MA) children and adolescents, aged 6-17 years (49 % female), who were participants in the San Antonio Family Assessment of Metabolic Risk Indicators in Youth study. These children are offspring or biological relatives of adult participants from three well-established Mexican American family studies in San Antonio, TX, at increased risk of type 2 diabetes. MS was defined as ≥3 abnormalities among 6 MSC measures: waist circumference, systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, and fasting and/or 2-h OGTT glucose. Genetic analyses of MS, number of MSCs (MSC-N), MS factors, and bivariate MS traits were performed. Overweight/obesity (53 %), pre-diabetes (13 %), acanthosis nigricans (33 %), and MS (19 %) were strikingly prevalent, as were MS components, including abdominal adiposity (32 %) and low HDL-cholesterol (32 %). Factor analysis of MS traits yielded three constructs: adipo-insulin-lipid, blood pressure, and glucose factors, and their factor scores were highly heritable. MS itself exhibited 68 % heritability. MSC-N showed strong positive genetic correlations with obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation, and acanthosis nigricans, and negative genetic correlation with physical fitness. MS trait pairs exhibited strong genetic and/or environmental correlations. These findings highlight the complex genetic architecture of MS/MSCs in MA children, and underscore the need for early screening and intervention to prevent chronic sequelae in this vulnerable pediatric population.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio UTHSCSA, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Sobha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puppala
authors.forename: Rector
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arya
authors.forename: Geetha
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chittoor
authors.forename: Vidya S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Farook
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Roy G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Resendez
authors.forename: Ram Prasad
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Upadhayay
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vandeberg
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cersosimo
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vandeberg
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Almasy
authors.forename: Joanne E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: Anthony G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Comuzzie
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lehman
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
authors.forename: Jane L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Ralph A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Defronzo
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blangero
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Hale
authors.forename: Ravindranath
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duggirala
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology; D000052:Acanthosis Nigricans / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D001786:Blood Glucose; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000235:genetics*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL