Are there any interactions between modified Nordic-style diet score and MC4R polymorphism on cardiovascular risk factors among overweight and obese women? A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women globally. Recent studies have reported that the minor allele (C allele) for melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) rs17782313 may be related to the incidence of obesity and the risk of CVD. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the interactions between the modified Nordic-style diet score (MND) and MC4R gene variant on markers of CVD. METHODS: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 282 Iranian women, aged 18–48 years, with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25. MND score was assessed using a 147 items food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Genotyping of the MC4R (rs17782313) was conducted by the PCR method. The anthropometric measurements and serum profiles were assessed by standard protocols. RESULTS: The means and standard deviation (SD) of age, weight, and BMI of individuals were 36.67 ± 9.10 years, 81.29 ± 12.43 kg, and 31.26 ± 4.29 kg/m(2), respectively. The overall prevalence of rs17782313 genotypes was 30.1%, 24.8%, and 45.1% for TT, TC, and CC, respectively. Our results showed significant negative interactions between high MND score and rs17782313 SNP in terms of visceral fat level (VFL) (β: -10.84, 95% CI: -20.64 to -1.04, P = 0.03) and total cholesterol (β: -24.24, 95% CI: -49.87 to 1.38, P = 0.06) in the crude model. After adjusting confounders, the interaction between high MND scores and VFL remained significant. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that diet, gene variants, and their interaction should be considered in metabolic disease risk assessment. Further studies are needed to confirm these data and better elucidate the interaction. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-01132-1.