Table 1 Biological impacts of FTO from fetal to adult life
From: Milk: an epigenetic amplifier of FTO-mediated transcription? Implications for Western diseases
| FTO expression | Biological alterations | References |
|---|---|---|
| Increased placental FTO expression | Increased fetal and birth weight | [226–228] |
| Absent FTO expression (fused toes mutant mice) | Murine embryos die at midgestation | [34, 35] |
| Fto-null mice | Postnatal growth retardation, reduced adipose tissue and lean body mass, shorter body length, lower bone mineral density, lower serum IGF-1 | [36, 37] |
| Fto deletion in murine CNS | Postnatal growth retardation | [37] |
| SNPs with higher FTO expression | Higher energy intake, increased appetite, higher dietary protein intake | [40, 43–49, 53] |
| Hypothalamic FTO expression | Regulation of hunger/satiation, energy intake and circadian rhythm | [50–52] |
| Early hypothalamic FTO over-expression in the rat | Postweaning hyperphagia | [155] |
| Fto over-expression in mice | Increase in body and fat mass, glucose intolerance during high-fat diet, metabolic syndrome | [41, 213] |
| FTO over-expression | Increased gluconeogenesis | [266] |
| FTO over-expression | Increased adipogenesis, reduced thermogenesis of preadipocytes, insulin resistance | [146, 249, 251, 268] |
| FTO deficiency in adipocytes | Increased expression of UCP-1 (thermogenin), induction of BAT phenotype with increased thermogenesis | [252] |
| Obesigenic FTO variants | Increased BMI in children at 8 yrs, higher risk of early menarche at 12 yrs | [234, 244] |
| Obesigenic FTO variants | Increased BMI and obesity in adults | [8–19] |
| Obesigenic FTO variants | Increased risk of T2DM in adults | [20–28] |
| FTO rs9939609 A-allele | Increased risk of coronary heart disease | [214, 215] |
| Obesigenic FTO variants | Increased risk of cancer, especially PCa and BCa | [276, 277, 291–298] |
| Obesigenic FTO SNPs | Reduction in frontal lobe volume of the brain, impaired verbal fluency, increased risk of AD | [319–323] |
| FTO rs9939609 SNP | Reduced leucocyte telomere length, accelerated aging | [342] |