Replication of Interactions between Genome-Wide Genetic Variants and Body Mass Index in Fasting Glucose and Insulin Levels

The genetic regulation of glucose and insulin levels might be modified by adiposity. With regard to the genetic factors that are altered by adiposity, a large meta-analysis on the interactions between genetic variants and body mass index with regard to fasting glucose and insulin levels was reported by the Meta-Analyses of Glucose- and Insulin-related trait Consortium (MAGIC), based on European ancestry. Because no replication study has been performed in other ethnic groups, we first examined the link between reported single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting glucose and insulin levels in a large Korean cohort (Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study cohort [KoGES], n = 5,814). The MAGIC study reported 7 novel SNPs for fasting glucose levels and 6 novel SNPs for fasting insulin levels. In this study, we attempted to replicate the association of 5 SNPs with fasting glucose levels and 5 SNPs with fasting insulin levels. One SNP (rs2293941) in PDX1 was identified as a significant obesity-modifiable factor in Koreans. Our results indicate that the novel loci that were identified by MAGIC are poorly replicated in other ethnic groups, although we do not know why.