CLOCK 3111 T/C SNP interacts with emotional eating behavior for weight-loss in a Mediterranean population

Abstract

Objective: The goals of this research was (1) to analyze the role of emotional eating behavior on weight-loss progression during a 30-week weight-loss program in 1,272 individuals from a large Mediterranean population and (2) to test for interaction between CLOCK 3111 T/C SNP and emotional eating behavior on the effectiveness of the weight-loss program.

Design and methods: A total of 1,272 overweight and obese participants (BMI: 31±5 kg/m2), aged 20 to 65 years, attending outpatient weight-loss clinics were recruited for this analysis. Emotional eating behavior was assessed by the Emotional Eating Questionnaire (EEQ), a questionnaire validated for overweight and obese Spanish subjects. Anthropometric measures, dietary intake and weight-loss progression were assessed and analyzed throughout the 30-week program. Multivariate analysis and linear regression models were performed to test for gene-environment interaction.

Results: Weight-loss progression during the 30-week program differed significantly according to the degree of emotional eating behavior. Participants classified as 'very emotional eaters' experienced more irregular (P = 0.007) weight-loss, with a lower rate of weight decline (-0.002 vs. -0.003, P<0.05) in comparison with less emotional eaters. The percentage of weight-loss was also significantly higher in 'non-emotional eaters' (P = 0.009). Additionally, we identified a significant gene-environment interaction associated with weight-loss at the CLOCK 3111 T/C locus (P = 0.017). By dichotomizing the emotional eating behavior score, linear regression analysis indicated that minor C allele carriers with a high emotional score (> = 11), lost significantly less weight than those C carriers with a low emotional score (<11) (P = 0.005).

Conclusions: Emotional eating behavior associates with weight-loss pattern, progression and total weight-loss. Additionally, CLOCK 3111 T/C SNP interacts with emotional eating behavior to modulate total weight loss. These results suggest that the assessment of this locus and emotional eating behavior could improve the development of effective, long-tern weight-management interventions.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1. Weight-loss progression during the 30-weeks of treatment stratified by emotional eating based on EEQ classification.

Weight-loss analyses within each single time point among the four classifications indicated significant differences exist (P = 0.03). Weight-loss progression differed significantly between the ‘very emotional eaters’ group and the three other groups (‘emotional eaters’, ‘low emotional eaters’, and ‘non-emotional eaters’) (P<0.05). The rate of weight-loss, as assessed by the slope of the weight-loss curves, also differed between the highly emotional group and the other groups (−0.002 vs. −0.003, P<0.05).

Figure 2. Differences in weight-loss between CLOCK genotypes and emotion eating classification as assessed by EEQ.

By dichotomizing the participants into ‘emotional eaters’ and ‘non-emotional eaters’, we found significantly different effects across genotypes at this locus (P for interaction  = 0.017). Among minor C allele carriers, ‘emotional eaters’ lost significantly less weight than ‘non-emotional eaters’ (P = 0.0049). However, no significant differences were identified between ‘emotional eaters’ and ‘non-emotional eaters’ for total weight-loss among noncarriers (P = 0.454). Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. We used (*) to indicate significant differences between emotional eating groups with the same genotype (P<0.050).