Vol.:(0123456789) Biochemical Genetics (2020) 58:257–278 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-019-09940-2 1 3 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Association of the Variant rs7561317 Downstream of the TMEM18 Gene with Overweight/Obesity and Related Anthropometric Traits in a Sample of Pakistani Population Sobia Rana 1  · Ayesha Sultana 1 Received: 17 June 2019 / Accepted: 1 October 2019 / Published online: 18 October 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Obesity is a multifactorial disorder and requires favorable environment for its expression. However, some individuals are more prone to weight gain than others in an obesogenic environment. Thus, at individual level, who becomes overweight or obese is mostly determined by genetic factors. The current study was undertaken to explore for the frst time the association of the TMEM18 rs7561317 variant with overweight/obesity and related anthropometric, metabolic, physical, and behavioral traits in a sample of Pakistani population with association between the rs7561317 and many traits was not investigated before in any population. The current study involved a total of 612 subjects including 306 overweight/obese and equal number of age- and sex-matched normal weight individuals. Obesity-related parameters were determined and the variant was genotyped by allelic discrimination assay. All the aforementioned associations were assessed by regression analyses adjusted for covariates and corrected for multiple comparisons. The results revealed a signifcant association of the TMEM18 rs7561317 with overweight/obese phenotype in more than one genetic model. Therefore, h-index (degree of dominance) was calculated, which indicated the recessive mode of inheritance for the above-said association. Similarly, a signifcant association of the rs7561317 with obesity-related anthropo- metric traits and clinical surrogate markers of visceral adiposity was observed. Thus, GG genotype of the rs7561317 was found to increase 1.74 times the risk of over- weight/obesity in Pakistani population (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.210–2.496, p = 0.003) while low physical activity seemed to accentuate the TMEM18 rs7561317-associ- ated risk of overweight/obesity (OR = 2.696, 95% CI 1.485–4.896, p = 0.004). Keywords Obesity · Association study · Polymorphism · Obesity-related traits · TMEM18 rs7561317 · Pakistani population * Sobia Rana molecularbiologist1@gmail.com; sobia.rana@iccs.edu 1 Molecular Biology and Human Genetics Laboratory, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan