FTO rs9939609 Does Not Interact with Physical Exercise but Influences Basal Insulin Metabolism in Brazilian Overweight and Obese Adolescents.

Purpose: The rs9939609 SNP (T > A) in FTO gene is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. The present study aimed at verifying whether this SNP influenced biochemical outcomes of children and adolescents who are overweight/obese submitted to a program of physical exercise and also if there was influence on basal levels of these biochemical variables.

Methods: The sample was composed by 432 children and adolescents grouped in three ways (obese, overweight, and normal weight); of these, 135 children and adoloescents who are obese and overweight were submitted to a physical exercise program for 12 weeks. All were genotyped by TaqMan SNP genotyping assay.

Results: The children and adolescents who are overweight/obese and carriers of AA genotype had higher levels of insulin ( p =0.03) and HOMA ( p =0.007) and lower levels of glucose ( p =0.003), but the SNP did not modulate the response to physical exercise.

Conclusions: In our study, the rs9939609 AA genotype was associated with parameters related to insulin metabolism but did not interact with physical exercise.