title: Gender-specific associations of genetic variants with metabolic syndrome components in the Tunisian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified many genetic variants associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, their contribution to MetS in ethnic groups in Tunisia is largely unexplored. In this study, we aim to examine the associations of related loci with a risk of metabolic syndrome in a sample of Tunisians.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall seven polymorphisms rs7265718, rs10401969, rs762861, rs12310367, rs1562398, rs2059807, rs4420638 located at C20orf152, CILP2, LRPAP1, ZNF664, KLF14, INSR, APOE, respectively, were analyzed in 356 samples from the Tunisian population. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were assessed. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We find that LRPAP1-rs762861 C allele increases susceptibility to MetS (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.99-1.95, p = 0.041). Separate analysis in men and women revealed the association of rs762861 among females (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.057-2.41, p = 0.021), but not among males (OR = 0.953, 95% CI = 0.51-1.78, p = 0.882). ZNF664-rs12310367 was also found to be associated with body mass index (BMI) in women (p = 0.01) and not in men (p = 0.18). KLF14-rs1562398 was significantly correlated with impaired fasting glucose (p = 0.004) only in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results reveal new candidate genes for MetS in the Tunisian population and suggest that the genetic basis of this syndrome is gender dependent. Further studies are necessary to understand why these associations differ between males and females.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Elouej
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Insaf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rejeb
authors.affiliation: c IURC, Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Nutrition & Genomes , UMR-204 , NUTRIPASS , Montpellier , France.
authors.forename: Redha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Attaoua
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Majdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagara
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|d Department of External Consultation , National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Om Kalthoum
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Sallem
authors.affiliation: e Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases , National Institute of Nutrition , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kamoun
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mariem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chargui
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|d Department of External Consultation , National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Henda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jamoussi
authors.affiliation: e Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases , National Institute of Nutrition , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Zinet
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Turki
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|d Department of External Consultation , National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Abdelmajid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abid
authors.affiliation: e Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases , National Institute of Nutrition , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ben Slama
authors.affiliation: b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.|f Central Laboratory of Medical Biology, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahri
authors.affiliation: g Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention Research Laboratory , Faculty of Medicine , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Habiba
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ben Romdhane
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdelhak
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.|b University of Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia.
authors.forename: Rym
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kefi
authors.affiliation: c IURC, Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Nutrition & Genomes , UMR-204 , NUTRIPASS , Montpellier , France.
authors.forename: Florin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grigorescu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014416:Tunisia / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Gender; North Africa; Tunisia; metabolic syndrome; polymorphisms