title: Dietary Vitamin A and Visceral Adiposity: A Modulating Role of the Retinol-Binding Protein 4 Gene.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Visceral fat (VF) compared with subcutaneous fat (SF) is more closely associated with cardiometabolic disease. Dietary vitamin A (retinol) may reduce adiposity through its effects on adipogenesis differentially in VF and SF, and this effect may be modulated by retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP4). We investigated whether intake of vitamin A is associated with either VF or SF, and whether this association is moderated by the RBP4 genotype (rs10882272, C/T) previously associated with circulating retinol levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional association study in a sample of 947 adolescents from a French-Canadian founder population. VF and SF were quantified with magnetic resonance imaging, and vitamin A intake was assessed with a 24-hour food recall. All participants were genotyped to determine their RBP4 variant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dietary intake of vitamin A was negatively associated with VF; however, it was not associated with SF. These relationships were independent of age, sex, height and energy intake, and were modulated by the RBP4 variant. The T allele promoted adiposity-reducing effects of vitamin A in VF and adiposity-enhancing effects in SF, while the C allele had adiposity-reducing effects in both VF and SF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dietary vitamin A may reduce abdominal adiposity and promote visceral to subcutaneous body fat redistribution during adolescence in an RBP4-dependent manner. These observational findings provide the basis for future interventional studies, which together with genetic information may inject further causality in the association between dietary vitamin A intake and abdominal adiposity.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physiology and Nutritional Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abrahamowicz
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perron
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richer
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Veillette
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaudet
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paus
authors.forename: Zdenka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pausova
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000235:genetics; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma / Q000235:genetics*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: C101326:RBP4 protein, human; D054839:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Plasma; D014801:Vitamin A