Summary: A new study suggests that your love of coffee may be influenced by your genes. The researchers compared genetic data with coffee consumption habits in the United States and the United Kingdom and found a genetic link with coffee consumption.
However, the study also revealed complex relationships between coffee consumption, specific health conditions, and the environment.
Key facts:
- Genetic variants inherited from parents can affect how much coffee you drink.
- There is a link between the genetics of coffee consumption and health outcomes such as obesity and drug use.
- The relationship between coffee and psychiatric disorders varies among populations, suggesting an environmental influence.
Source: University of Western Ontario
It’s 9 am and the coffee shops are busy with a line that wraps around the building. This is a common occurrence worldwide as coffee is one of the most consumed beverages.
But is our taste for coffee passed down from our parents? Or because of our environment?
Researchers at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) used genetic data as well as self-reported coffee consumption numbers to compile a genome-wide association study (GWAS). These types of studies use large amounts of genetic data to help researchers identify genetic variants, genes, and biology associated with a particular disease or specific health trait.
The researchers compared genetic characteristics of coffee consumption from the 23andMe database in the United States with an even larger set of records in the United Kingdom.
“We used this data to identify regions of the genome that are associated with a lower or greater likelihood of drinking coffee, and then identify genes and biology that may underlie coffee consumption,” said Hayley Thorpe, the study’s lead researcher. Postdoctoral Researcher at Schulich Western Medicine and Dentistry.
The results indicated a genetic influence on coffee consumption. In other words, certain genetic variants inherited from parents affect the amount of coffee consumed.
This study was published in Neuropsychopharmacology.
However, the results regarding the health outcome of a cup of java were inconclusive.
The group’s genome-wide association study of 130,153 participants in US-based 23andMe Research was compared with a similar database from UK Biobank of 334,649 UK residents.
This comparison showed a consistent positive genetic association between coffee and adverse health outcomes such as obesity and drug use in both populations. “This doesn’t mean that a person who drinks coffee will use other substances or become obese, but rather that the genetic predisposition to coffee consumption is somehow related to these characteristics,” Thorpe said.
These findings were further complicated by examining psychiatric conditions.
“Look at the genetics of anxiety, for example, or bipolar and depression: in the 23andMe dataset, they tend to be genetically positively correlated with the genetics of coffee consumption,” Thorpe said. But then, in the UK Biobank, you see the opposite pattern, where they are genetically negatively correlated. This is not what we expected.”
The researchers noted other differences between the populations.
“We found a positive association between the genetics of coffee consumption measured in 23andMe with psychiatric disorders, but this association was negative when examined in the UK Biobank,” said Thorpe.
“These divergences could be due to many reasons, such as the trade-off between tea and coffee consumption being different between people in the US and the UK.”
While this study adds to the existing literature and helps better understand how coffee may affect people’s health, it is important to understand the relationship between coffee, other substance use and health issues in unique settings, Thorpe said. More work is needed.
This study was conducted in collaboration with Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor Gibran Khokar and UCSD professors Sandra Sanchez-Roige and Abraham Palmer.
About this news about genetics research and caffeine consumption
the writer: Cynthia Fazio
Source: University of Western Ontario
Audience: Cynthia Fazio – University of Western Ontario
Image: This image is credited to Neuroscience News
Main research: closed access
“Genome-wide association studies of coffee consumption in UK/US participants of European descent reveal cohort-specific genetic associations” by Hayley HA Thorpe et al. Neuropsychopharmacology
Summary
Genome-wide association studies of coffee consumption in UK/US participants of European descent reveal cohort-specific genetic associations.
Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of coffee consumption in US-based 23andMe participants.N= 130153) and identified 7 important loci, many of which were replicated in three multiancestral groups.
We examined genetic correlates and performed an extensive association study across hundreds of biomarkers, health and lifestyle characteristics, then compared our results to the largest GWAS of coffee consumption available from the UK Biobank (UKB; N= 334659). We observed a consistent positive genetic correlation with substance use and obesity in both groups.
Other genetic correlations were inconsistent, including positive genetic correlations between coffee consumption and psychiatric illness, pain, and gastrointestinal traits in 23andMe that were absent or negative in UKB, and genetic correlations with cognition that were negative in 23andMe but positive in UKB. .
An extensive association study using polygenic coffee consumption scores obtained from 23andMe or UKB summary statistics also showed consistent associations with increased likelihood of obesity and red blood cell-related traits, but all other associations were group specific.
Our study shows that the genetics of coffee consumption is associated with substance use and obesity in different groups, but also that GWAS performed in different populations can reveal cultural differences in the relationship between behavior and genetics.
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