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The Trp⁶⁴Arg Polymorphism of the ß₃-Adrenergic Receptor Gene Is Not Associated with Body Weight or Body Mass Index in Japanese: A Longitudinal Analysis

Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Y.M., K.K.), Tokyo 101-0062, Japan; National Institute of Public Health (T.Y.), Saitama 351-0197, Japan; National Institute of Health and Nutrition (N.Y., Y.M., H.T.), Tokyo 162-8636, Japan; and Mukogawa Women’s University (C.D.), Osaka 663-8558, Japan

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Yumi Matsushita, Department of Health Policy Science, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 2-3-21-4F Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan. E-mail: address ym.hcm{at}tmd.ac.jp.

The ß₃-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) is expressed mainly in visceral adipose tissue and is thought to contribute to lipolysis and the delivery of free fatty acids to the portal vein. Although many studies have examined the relationship between the Trp⁶⁴Arg mutation of ADRB3 and obesity, the results have been inconsistent. We examined the cross-sectional relationship of ADRB3 variants with indexes of obesity, and their longitudinal changes over 10 yr, in men and women, aged 40–69 yr, who were randomly selected from the Japanese rural population. The study considered both dietary energy intake and physical activity levels. Among the 746 participants, the genotype frequencies of the Trp⁶⁴Trp, Trp⁶⁴Arg, and Arg⁶⁴Arg variants were 483, 224, and 39, respectively. The cross-sectional analysis showed no significant differences in height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, serum total and high density lipoprotein cholesterols, and hemoglobin A_1c among the genotype groups even after adjustments for gender, age, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, and energy intake. No significant differences in the weight changes between the genotype groups were evident in the longitudinal analysis. We conclude that the Trp⁶⁴Arg mutation of ADRB3 has little or no influence on either body weight or body mass index in the general Japanese population.

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (12470094) from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; a National Cardiovascular Center grant-in-aid; and Japan Heart Foundation research grants.

Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; HBA_1c, hemoglobin A_1c; HDL-Chol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; LSM, least square mean; MET, metabolic equivalent; T-Chol, total cholesterol.