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Genetic Research in Paediatric Subjects with Body Fat Excess

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A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2021) | Viewed by 7813

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. María Cristina Azcona San Julián

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Guest Editor

Paediatric Endocrinology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: paediatric; growth and development; body composition; physical activity; sleep; obesity/overweight; metabolic syndrome; insulin resistance prevention and treatment; personalized and precision nutrition; nutrigenetics; nutrigenomics; epigenetics; telomeres

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, body composition and nutritional alterations are a chief clinical complaint on a daily basis. Excess body fat complications, such as metabolic syndrome, puberty, lung problems and behavioural disorders, may be detectable from the moment of diagnosis. The interactions between genes, nutrition and body composition are widely known. Moreover, facilities to study these interactions, such as genetics, epigenetics and nutrigenomics, have extensively improved in the last decade. There is an urgently need to prevent and treat excess body composition disorders. Until now, the most effective tools are nutritional education, physical activity, and both behavioural and lifestyle modifications. The interactions between food, physical activity, human body composition and genetics are very important to achieve more efficient nutritional and lifestyle interventions. Therefore, personalised and precision nutrition, guided by gene regulation, is a useful tool to improve both the prevention and treatment of obesity. Mass spectrometry, next generation sequencing and microarray technologies facilitate the study of the massive genome, gene expression, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, and may clarify both the physiological and pathological mechanisms of interaction between food, genes and body composition. The expansion of nutritional interventions guided by genetics and nutritional gene-modulated biomarkers may help to prevent and treat obesity early on and decrease the associated complications, thus improving paediatric quality of life, and especially decreasing cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases in adulthood.

This Special Issue invites research articles, reviews and short communications including but not limited to diet and gene regulation; the genetics and physiopathology of disorders related to obesity, such as growth and puberty disorders; asthma; metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes; genetic alterations of appetite regulation and microbiota interactions; among other suggested topics.

Dr. María Cristina Azcona San Julián
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

paediatric
obesity/overweight
appetite
body composition
metabolic
genetics
epigenetics
telomeres
nutrigenetics
nutrigenomics
signature
nutritional biomarkers
personalised nutrition

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 277 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations of MC4R, LEP, and LEPR Polymorphisms with Obesity-Related Parameters in Childhood and Adulthood

by Asta Raskiliene, Alina Smalinskiene, Vilma Kriaucioniene, Vaiva Lesauskaite and Janina Petkeviciene

Genes 2021, 12(6), 949; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes12060949 - 21 Jun 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2330

Abstract

MC4R, LEP, and LEPR genes are involved in the hypothalamic leptin-melanocortin regulation pathway, which is important for energy homeostasis. Our study aimed to evaluate the associations between the MC4R rs17782313, LEP rs7799039, and LEPR rs1137101 polymorphisms with obesity-related parameters in childhood and adulthood. The data were obtained from the Kaunas Cardiovascular Risk Cohort study, which started in 1977 with 1082 participants aged 12–13 years. In 2012–2014, the follow-up survey was carried out. Genotype analysis of all respondents (n = 509) aged 48–49 years was performed for the gene polymorphisms using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction. Anthropometric measurements were performed in childhood and adulthood. In childhood, only skinfold thicknesses were associated with gene variants being the lowest in children with MC4R TT genotype and LEP AG genotype. In adulthood, odds of obesity and metabolic syndrome was higher in MC4R CT/CC genotype than TT genotype carriers (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.8 and OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.1–2.4, respectively). In men, physical activity attenuated the effect of the MC4R rs17782313 on obesity. The LEP GG genotype was associated with higher BMI, waist circumference, and visceral fat level only in men. No associations of the LEPR rs1137101 polymorphisms with anthropometric measurements and leptin level were found. In conclusion, the associations of the MC4R and LEP gene polymorphisms with obesity-related parameters strengthened with age. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Research in Paediatric Subjects with Body Fat Excess)

11 pages, 13196 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Telomere Length as a Biomarker for Race-Related Health Disparities

by Vaithinathan Selvaraju, Megan Phillips, Anna Fouty, Jeganathan Ramesh Babu and Thangiah Geetha

Genes 2021, 12(1), 78; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes12010078 - 09 Jan 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2949

Abstract

Disparities between the races have been well documented in health and disease in the USA. Recent studies show that telomere length, a marker of aging, is associated with obesity and obesity-related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. The current study aimed to evaluate the connection between telomere length ratio, blood pressure, and childhood obesity. The telomere length ratio was measured in 127 children from both European American (EA) and African American (AA) children, aged 6–10 years old. AA children had a significantly high relative telomere to the single copy gene (T/S) ratio compared to EA children. There was no significant difference in the T/S ratio between normal weight (NW) and overweight/obese (OW/OB) groups of either race. Blood pressure was significantly elevated in AA children with respect to EA children. Hierarchical regression analysis adjusted for race, gender, and age expressed a significant relationship between the T/S ratio and diastolic pressure. Low T/S ratio participants showed a significant increase in systolic pressure, while a high T/S ratio group showed an increase in diastolic pressure and heart rate of AA children. In conclusion, our findings show that AA children have high T/S ratio compared to EA children. The high T/S ratio is negatively associated with diastolic pressure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Research in Paediatric Subjects with Body Fat Excess)

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Review

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9 pages, 412 KiB

Open AccessReview

Telomere Length and Pediatric Obesity: A Review

by María Cristina Azcona-Sanjulian

Genes 2021, 12(6), 946; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes12060946 - 21 Jun 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2049

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic disease, which needs to be early detected early and treated in order prevent its complications. Changes in telomere length (TL) have been associated with obesity and its complications, such as diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to summarize results of studies that have measured TL in children and adolescents with obesity. Fourteen studies aiming to assess TL in pediatric patients with either obesity or who were overweight were included in this review. In conclusion, obesity and adiposity parameters are negatively associated with TL. Shorter telomeres are observed in children with obesity compared with their lean counterparts. Factors involved in obesity etiology, such as diet and physical activity, may contribute to maintenance of TL integrity. In the long term, TL change could be used as a biomarker to predict response to obesity treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Research in Paediatric Subjects with Body Fat Excess)

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