1Gene-environment interaction twin study- very good copy.pdf

Gene 3 environment interaction of vigorous exercise and body mass index among male Vietnam-era twins1–3 Jeanne M McCaffery, George D Papandonatos, Dale S Bond, Michael J Lyons, and Rena R Wing ABSTRACT Background: Secular trends over the past several decades suggest an environmental influence on body mass index (BMI). However, twin models that incorporate a gene-environment correlation and gene 3 environment interaction have not been applied to elucidate specific environmental factors that affect the heritability of BMI. Objective: Our aim was to determine whether one putative envi- ronmental predictor of obesity, vigorous exercise, shows evidence of a gene-environment correlation or gene 3 environment interac- tion with BMI among twins. Design: Twin structural equation modeling was used to examine a gene-environment correlation and a gene 3 environment interac- tion of vigorous exercise with BMI among 2710 monozygotic and 2327 dizygotic male-male twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry—a national registry of twin pairs who served in the mili- tary during the Vietnam War era. Results: Vigorous exercise significantly modified the additive ge- netic component of BMI, which indicated a gene 3 environment interaction (P , 0.001). BMI showed the greatest genetic influence among those who did not report vigorous exercise, with diminished genetic influence among those who did. Furthermore, vigorous exercise had a small but significant environmental effect on BMI (P ? 0.006)—a finding confirmed among monozygotic co-twins discordant for vigorous exercise. Conclusions: Genetic influences on BMI are lower among those who report vigorous exercise. Consistent with an emerging litera- ture, this suggests that vigorous exercise may mitigate some of the genetic influence on obesity. Molecular genetic studies of obesity should consider incorporating measures of behavioral and demo- graphic factors to maximize the identification of novel obesity genes. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:10