title: Does FTO have a paradoxical effect in fetal life?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low weight at birth is associated with obesity in later life. One hypothesis to explain such an association is that genetic variants that increase the risk of obesity also reduce fetal weight. Recently, obesity in adults was found to be associated with common variants of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene. We examined the association between FTO polymorphisms and birth weight in a singleton, full-term birth cohort of 494 newborn-mother pairs without any complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The risk alleles for obesity ("A" allele for the rs9939609 FTO variant and "G" allele for the rs9930506 FTO variant) were associated with low weight at birth. The mean differences per risk allele were -79 g (95% CI: -129 to -30; p = 0.002) for rs9939609 and -84 g (95% CI: -131 to -36; P < 0.001) for rs9930506. The level of association remained statistically significant after adjustment for the maternal risk allele and for variables usually associated with birth weight (-50 g, 95% CI: -99 to 0; p = 0.05 for rs9939609 and -48 g, 95% CI: -100 to 0; p = 0.05 for rs9930506). In the follow-up, the allelic difference in weight was attenuated over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FTO variants that confer a predisposition to obesity later in life appear to be associated with low weight at birth. This finding favors the hypothesis of a common genetic denominator that predisposes to a low weight at birth and obesity in adults.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Research at Jolimont, 159 Rue Ferrer, B-7100, Haine Saint-Paul, Belgium. olivierdescamps@hotmail.com.|Department of Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Jolimont-Lobbes, 159 Rue Ferrer, B-7100, Haine Saint-Paul, Belgium. olivierdescamps@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Olivier S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Descamps
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Research at Jolimont, 159 Rue Ferrer, B-7100, Haine Saint-Paul, Belgium. recherchejolimont@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tarantino
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centre Hospitalier Jolimont-Lobbes, 159 Rue Ferrer, B-7100, Haine Saint-Paul, Belgium. francois.guilmot@entitejolimontoise.be.
authors.forename: Pierre-Francois
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Guilmot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000071516:Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012306:Risk; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D000071516:Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO; C526492:FTO protein, human