Characteristics of insulin resistance in Korean adults from the perspective of circadian and metabolic sensing genes

Background The biological clock allows an organism to anticipate periodic environmental changes and adjust its physiology and behavior accordingly. Objective This retrospective cross-sectional study examined circadian gene polymorphisms and clinical characteristics associated with insulin resistance (IR). Methods We analyzed data from 1,404 Korean adults aged 30 to 55 with no history of cancer and cardio-cerebrovascular disease. The population was classified according to sex and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) values. Demographics, anthropometric and clinical characteristics, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed with respect to sex, age, and HOMA-IR values. We used association rule mining to identify sets of SNPs from circadian and metabolic sensing genes that may be associated with IR. Results Among the subjects, 15.0% of 960 women and 24.3% of 444 men had HOMA-IR values above 2. Most of the parameters differed significantly between men and women, as well as between the groups with high and low insulin sensitivity. Body fat mass of the trunk, which was significantly higher in insulin-resistant groups, had a higher correlation with high sensitivity C-reactive protein and hemoglobin levels in women, and alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in men. Homozygous minor allele genotype sets of SNPs rs17031578 and rs228669 in the PER3 gene could be more frequently found among women with HOMA-IR values above 2 (p = .014). Conclusion Oxidative stress enhanced by adiposity and iron overload, which may also be linked to NRF2 and PER3 -related pathways, is related to IR in adulthood. However, due to the small population size in this study, more research is needed.