A genome-wide association study on meat consumption in a Japanese population: the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort study

Abstract

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on the dietary habits of the Japanese population have shown that an effect rs671 allele was inversely associated with fish consumption, whereas it was directly associated with coffee consumption. Although meat is a major source of protein and fat in the diet, whether genetic factors that influence meat-eating habits in healthy populations are unknown. This study aimed to conduct a GWAS to find genetic variations that affect meat consumption in a Japanese population. We analysed GWAS data using 14 076 participants from the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) study. We used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to estimate food intake that was validated previously. Association of the imputed variants with total meat consumption per 1000 kcal energy was performed by linear regression analysis with adjustments for age, sex, and principal component analysis components 1–10. We found that no genetic variant, including rs671, was associated with meat consumption. The previously reported single nucleotide polymorphisms that were associated with meat consumption in samples of European ancestry could not be replicated in our J-MICC data. In conclusion, significant genetic factors that affect meat consumption were not observed in a Japanese population.

Gene-vegetarianism interactions in calcium, testosterone, and eGFR identified in genome-wide analysis across 30 biomarkers

“…We did not find a "vegetarianism gene," nor any variant that was significantly associated with vegetarianism. This null finding is similar to a recent GWAS in a Japanese cohort 25 .…”

“…We did not find a “vegetarianism gene,” nor any variant that was significantly associated with vegetarianism. This null finding is similar to a recent GWAS in a Japanese cohort 25 . Variants in HLA-DPB1 , the most significant hit in the gene-based test, have been previously associated with cognitive empathy 62 , which could potentially be involved with one’s decision to become vegetarian.…”

“…Heritable components have been associated with plant-eating dietary preferences [26,27]. Significant variants have been associated with quantitative measures of plant-eating [28,29], though a recent GWAS of vegetarianism as a trait found none [30].…”

ALDH2 variance in disease and populations

“…ALDH2*2 was found to be negatively correlated with the dietary intake of natto, tofu and fish, and positively correlated with the intake of coffee, green tea, milk and yogurt ( Fig. 1 ) ( Nakagawa-Senda et al, 2018 ; Matoba et al, 2020 ), among the Japanese population ( Suzuki et al, 2021 ; Igarashi et al, 2019 ; Matoba et al, 2020 ), while no association with meat intake was found ( Nakamura et al, 2021 ). A study involving 31,230 Japanese individuals also confirmed the influence of the ALDH2*2 variant on sleep pattern and duration, as ALDH2*2 carriers had shorter sleep durations compared to ALDH2 wild-type individuals.…”

Gene-vegetarianism interactions in calcium, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and testosterone identified in genome-wide analysis across 30 biomarkers

“…Specific genetic variants have been significantly associated with quantitative measures of plant-eating [ 23 , 24 ]. A recent GWAS in UK Biobank Europeans, which used a single survey instance to classify vegetarians, found one variant at genome-wide significance impacting vegetarianism status (rs72884519; P = 4.997×10 −8 ) [ 25 ], while a GWAS in a Japanese cohort found none [ 26 ]. To discover how the health impacts of vegetarianism can depend on the genetic background of an individual, we considered gene-environment interactions (G×E), which can produce synergistic (non-additive) effects on health outcomes that genetic or environmental factors alone would not [ 27 ].…”