title: Decreased comfort food intake and allostatic load in adolescents carrying the A3669G variant of the glucocorticoid receptor gene.
abstract: The A3669G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene NR3C1 is associated with altered tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids (GCs). GCs modulate the food reward circuitry and are implicated in increased intake of palatable foods, which can lead to the metabolic syndrome and obesity. We hypothesized that presence of the G variant of the A3669G SNP would affect preferences for palatable foods and alter metabolic, behavioural, and neural outcomes.
  
  
  
  One hundred thirty-one adolescents were genotyped for the A3669G polymorphism, underwent anthropometric assessment and nutritional evaluations, and completed behavioural measures. A subsample of 74 subjects was followed for 5 years and performed a brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm to verify brain activity in response to food cues.
  
  
  
  Sugar and total energy consumption were lower in A3669G G allele variant carriers. On follow-up, this group also had reduced serum insulin concentrations, increased insulin sensitivity, and lower anxiety scores. Because of our unbalanced sample sizes (31/37 participants non-G allele carriers/total), our imaging data analysis failed to find whole brain-corrected significant results in between-group t-tests.
  
  
  
  These results highlight that a genetic variation in the GR gene is associated, at the cellular level, with significant reduction in GC sensitivity, which, at cognitive and behavioural levels, translates to altered food intake and emotional stress response. This genetic variant might play a major role in decreasing risk for metabolic and psychiatric diseases.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: danitsarodrigues@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Danitsa Marcos
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberta Sena
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dalle Molle
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tania Diniz
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Amanda Brondani
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Mucellini
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andressa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bortoluzzi
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rudineia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toazza
authors.affiliation: Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Unit, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliano Adams
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovanni Abrahão
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Salum
authors.affiliation: Statistics Information Center, Fundação de Economia e Estatística, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agranonik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minuzzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Levitan
authors.affiliation: Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (InsCer), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buchweitz
authors.affiliation: Brain Institute of Rio Grande do Sul (InsCer), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre Rosa
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gisele Gus
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Manfro
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Patrícia Pelufo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Silveira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000483:Alleles; D052636:Allostasis; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D001069:Appetite Regulation; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D015331:Cohort Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Comfort food; Feeding behaviour; Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphism; Insulin; Reward circuitry