title: Variation in the obesity risk gene FTO determines the postprandial cerebral processing of food stimuli in the prefrontal cortex.
abstract: Variation in FTO is the strongest genetic determinant of body weight and has recently been linked with impaired neural processing of food stimuli. However, whether this brain-expressed gene affects neuronal processing of food-related stimuli after ingestion is still poorly understood. In this study, twenty-four participants were examined before, 30 and 120 min after ingesting 75 g of glucose solution or water on two separate days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during visual food presentation was performed. All participants were genotyped for FTO SNP rs8050136. We detected significant differences between FTO genotypes in the prefrontal cortex 30 min post-glucose load in BOLD-response to food pictures (p=0.0017), while no differences were detected in response to water ingestion or 120 min post-glucose load. Since the prefrontal cortex plays a major role in the inhibitory control of eating, we propose that reduced postprandial activity in FTO risk allele carriers contributes to overeating and obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heni
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany ; fMEG Center, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kullmann
authors.affiliation: fMEG Center, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veit
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ketterer
authors.affiliation: fMEG Center, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Machicao
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Staiger
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Ulrich
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Häring
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany ; fMEG Center, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Preissl
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany ; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fritsche
keywords: Brain; FTO; Human; Obesity; fMRI