VEGF gene polymorphism interactions with dietary trace elements intake in determining the risk of metabolic syndrome

There is a complex interaction between genetic, metabolic, and environmental factors in determining the risk of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between the dietary intake of iron, copper, zinc, manganese, selenium and iodine (assessed by 24 recall) with vascular endothelial growth factor variants (rs6921438, rs4416670, rs6993770, and rs10738760), on the risk of metabolic syndrome. Two hundred and forty eight individuals with MetS and 100 individuals without MetS recruited. Dietary intake and the daily average of energy and nutrients intake were obtained by questionnaire and quantified using Diet Plan 6 software. DNA was extracted from EDTA anticoagulated whole blood. The SNPs were assessed using using a Sequenom iPLEX Gold assay. Data analysis was undertaken using the Student’s t-test, ?2 test and logistic regression using SPSS 11.5 software. There was a significant interaction between low dietary iron intake with rs6993770 (ß= 0.10, p<0.05), and a low dietary zinc and a high manganese intake with rs6921438 in relation to the presence of metabolic syndrome (ß= -0.17, p<0.05, ß= -0.30, p<0.05, respectively). Our data showed the association of rs6993770 with iron intake and rs6921438 with zinc and manganese intake, indicating further investigating in a larger population to evaluate their values.