IMR Press / FBL / Volume 27 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2701027
Open Access Original Research
The association of vascular endothelial growth factor related SNPs and circulating iron levels might depend on body mass index
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1 Université de Lorraine, IGE-PCV, F-54000 Nancy, France
2 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand, 1100-2807 Beirut, Lebanon
3 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, 1700 Nabatieh, Lebanon
4 Rammal Hassan Rammal Research Laboratory, PhyToxE Research Group, Faculty of Sciences (V), Lebanese University, 1700 Nabatieh, Lebanon
5 Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut Arab University, 115020 Beirut, Lebanon
*Correspondence: s.elshamieh@bau.edu.lb (Said El Shamieh)
These authors contributed equally.
Academic Editor: Graham Pawelec
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2022, 27(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2701027
Submitted: 26 May 2021 | Revised: 9 August 2021 | Accepted: 24 August 2021 | Published: 18 January 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background and objectives: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is an essential regulator of vascular biology. In addition to the well-established role in angiogenesis, circulating VEGF levels were found elevated in severely anemic patients, pointing out that anemia might affect the progression of angiogenesis in malignant and benign diseases through the alteration of VEGF levels. Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VEGFA and other loci were shown to explain more than 50% of its circulating levels. This study investigated the association of those ten VEGF-related SNPs with serum iron levels in a general Lebanese population free of chronic diseases (N = 460). Result: We found that the rs10738760 and the body mass index (BMI) were associated with decreased Iron levels (p = 0.002, and p < 0.001, respectively). When taken together, both variables, rs10738760 and BMI, interacted to reduce iron levels (p < 0.001). According to obesity status, the stratification revealed that the effect of rs10738760 was more pronounced in obese than non-obese individuals (p = 0.025). Conclusion: The intergenic SNP rs10738760 is associated with circulating iron levels, and this association depends on BMI status. Although of interest, these results need replication in larger populations from different ancestries.

Keywords
Vascular endothelial growth factor
SNPs
Iron levels
Body mass index
Figures
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