Daniel V. Santos

Genotype by Sex and Genotype by Age Interactions with Sedentary Behavior: The Portuguese Healthy Family Study

Sedentary behavior (SB) expression and its underlying causal factors have been progressively studied, as it is a major determinant of decreased health quality. In the present study we applied Genotype x Age (GxAge) and Genotype x Sex (GxSex) interaction methods to determine if the phenotypic expression of different SB traits is influenced by an interaction between genetic architecture and both age and sex. A total of 1345 subjects, comprising 249 fathers, 327 mothers, 334 sons and 325 daughters, from 339 families of The Portuguese Healthy Family Study were included in the analysis. SB traits were assessed by means of a 3-d physical activity recall, the Baecke and IPAQ questionnaires. GxAge and GxSex interactions were analyzed using SOLAR 4.0 software. Sedentary behaviour heritability estimates were not always statistically significant (p>0.05) and ranged from 3% to 27%. The GxSex and GxAge interaction models were significantly better than the single polygenic models for TV (min/day), EEsed (kcal/day), personal computer (PC) usage and physical activty (PA) tertiles. The GxAge model is also significantly better than the polygenic model for Sed (min/day). For EEsed, PA tertiles, PC and Sed, the GxAge interaction was significant because the genetic correlation between SB environments was significantly different from 1. Further, PC and Sed variance heterogeneity among distinct ages were observed. The GxSex interaction was significant for EEsed due to genetic variance heterogeneity between genders and for PC due to a genetic correlation less than 1 across both sexes. Our results suggest that SB expression may be influenced by the interactions between genotype with both sex and age. Further, different sedentary behaviors seem to have distinct genetic architectures and are differentially affected by age and sex.

Genotype by energy expenditure interaction with metabolic syndrome traits: the Portuguese healthy family study.

Moderate-to-high levels of physical activity are established as preventive factors in metabolic syndrome development. However, there is variability in the phenotypic expression of metabolic syndrome under distinct physical activity conditions. In the present study we applied a Genotype X Environment interaction method to examine the presence of GxEE interaction in the phenotypic expression of metabolic syndrome. A total of 958 subjects, from 294 families of The Portuguese Healthy Family study, were included in the analysis. Total daily energy expenditure was assessed using a 3 day physical activity diary. Six metabolic syndrome related traits, including waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, glucose, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides, were measured and adjusted for age and sex. GxEE examination was performed on SOLAR 4.3.1. All metabolic syndrome indicators were significantly heritable. The GxEE interaction model fitted the data better than the polygenic model (p<0.001) for waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides. For waist circumference, glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides, the significant GxEE interaction was due to rejection of the variance homogeneity hypothesis. For waist circumference and glucose, GxEE was also significant by the rejection of the genetic correlation hypothesis. The results showed that metabolic syndrome traits expression is significantly influenced by the interaction established between total daily energy expenditure and genotypes. Physical activity may be considered an environmental variable that promotes metabolic differences between individuals that are distinctively active.

Taxas de sucesso na aptidão física: efeitos da idade, sexo, actividade física, sobrepeso e obesidade

The main objective of this study was to analyze the influence of gender, age, physical activity (PA) and overweight/obesity on health-related physical fitness (HRPF) passing rates. A sample of 581 boys and 529 girls, aged 6 to 10 years and enrolled in first cycle primary schools in Albergaria-a-Velha, Portugal, was studied. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated. The FITNESSGRAM test battery was applied. The cut-off values of Cole et al. (2000) for overweight and obesity were used. PA levels were estimated using the questionnaire of Godin and Shephard. A high prevalence of overweight and obesity was found. No positive association was observed between PA and HRPF. Age does not seem to have an impact on HRPF passing rates.O principal objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a influencia do genero, idade, niveis de atividade fisica (AF) e prevalencias de sobrepeso e obesidade nas taxas de sucesso global da aptidao fisica associada a saude (AptFS). A amostra foi constituida por 581meninos e 529 meninas do 1o ciclo do Ensino Basico do concelho de Albergaria-a-Velha (Portugal), com idades compreendidas entre 6 e 10 anos. Foram medidos o peso e a altura e calculado o IMC. A bateria de testes do FITNESSGRAM foi aplicada. O sobrepeso e a obesidade foram determinados de acordo com os valores de corte de Cole et al. (2000). Os niveis de AF foram estimados por meio do questionario Godin & Shephard. Registramos prevalencias elevadas de sobrepeso e obesidade. Nao se verificou uma associacao positiva entre a AF e os niveis de AptFS. A idade nao parece ser um fator de discriminacao positiva ou negativa nos niveis de AptFS.