This study investigated the relationships between adiponectin gene polymorphisms (-11391G>A and -11377C>G) and anthropometric indices such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and their changes over a 7-year follow-up period in 837 French Caucasian participants from the “SUpplémentation en VItamines et Minéraux Anti-oXydants” (SU.VI.MAX) study. The authors reported that the -11391G>A polymorphism was moderately associated with changes in WHR but not with changes in BMI. In addition, the -11391G>A allele was associated with a higher waist circumference, which suggests that this genotype could play a role in accumulation of abdominal fat over time. Moreover, subjects with the -11377C allele presented a slight increase in WHR. The authors also reported that subjects with the haplotype combination of -11391A and -11377C had greater changes in WHR when compared to other haplotypes. Lastly, this study showed that alleles involved in body fat gain were also associated with higher adiponectin levels. The SU.VI.MAX study therefore demonstrated that genetic variations in the adiponectin gene are tied to a modest increase in abdominal fat over time, suggesting that adiponectin plays a role in body fat gain in the general population.
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