Summary: A novel study suggests that your love of coffee may be influenced by your genes. Scientists compared genetic data with coffee drinking habits in the US and UK, finding a genetic link to coffee consumption.
But the study also revealed sophisticated relationships between coffee consumption, certain health problems and the environment.
Key facts:
- Genetic variants inherited from parents may influence the amount of coffee you drink.
- There are links between the genetics of coffee consumption and health outcomes such as obesity and substance employ.
- The association between coffee and mental disorders varies among populations, suggesting environmental influences.
Source: University of Western Ontario
It’s 9 a.m., and coffee shops are bustling, and the line for the drive-thru stretches around the building. It’s a common occurrence around the world, as coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages.
But did we inherit our taste for coffee from our parents? Or is it because of our environment?
Researchers from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) used genetic data as well as self-reported coffee consumption data to conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS). This type of research uses immense amounts of genetic data to support researchers identify genetic variants, genes and biology associated with a specific disease or specific health characteristics.
The researchers compared genetic characteristics of coffee consumption from the 23andMe database in the U.S. with an even larger data set in the UK.
“We used this data to identify regions of the genome associated with greater or lesser likelihood of consuming coffee, and then identify the genes and biology that may underlie coffee consumption,” said Hayley Thorpe, principal investigator on the study and post-doctoral research associate doctor at Western’s Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
The results showed a genetic influence on coffee consumption. In other words, specific gene variants you inherit from your parents influence how much coffee you’re likely to drink.
The study was published in Neuropsychopharmacology.
However, the conclusions regarding the impact of drinking a cup of coffee on health were not so clear.
The group’s genome-wide association study of 130,153 U.S. 23andMe study participants was compared with a similar UK Biobank database of 334,649 U.K. residents.
The comparison revealed consistent positive genetic associations between coffee and harmful health outcomes such as obesity and substance employ in both populations. This does not mean that someone who drinks coffee will employ other substances or develop obesity, rather that a genetic predisposition to drink coffee is somehow related to these characteristics, Thorpe said.
The results became more complicated when looking at mental health conditions.
“For example, look at the genetics of anxiety, or bipolar disorder and depression: in the 23andMe data set, they tend to be positively genetically correlated with the genetics of coffee consumption,” Thorpe said. “But in the UK Biobank, you see the opposite pattern, where they are negatively genetically correlated. That’s not what we expected.”
Scientists have noticed other differences between populations.
“We found positive associations between the genetics of coffee consumption as measured by 23andMe and psychiatric disorders, but these associations tended to be negative when examined in the UK Biobank,” Thorpe said.
“These discrepancies may have a number of causes, for example they may be due to the different ratios of tea and coffee consumption between people in the US and the UK.”
While this study expands the existing literature and helps us better understand how coffee may affect human health, more work is needed to understand the relationship between coffee, other substance employ and health problems in different settings, Thorpe said.
The study was conducted in collaboration with Schulich University professor of medicine and dentistry Jibran Khokar and University of California San Diego professors Sandra Sanchez-Roige and Abraham Palmer.
About this news about genetics research and caffeine consumption
Author: Cynthia Fazio
Source: University of Western Ontario
Contact: Cynthia Fazio – University of Western Ontario
Picture: Photo credit: Neuroscience News
Original research: Closed access.
“Genome-wide association study of coffee consumption in UK and US participants of European descent reveals cohort-specific genetic associations”by Hayley HA Thorpe et al. Neuropsychopharmacology
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies of coffee consumption in UK and US participants of European descent reveal cohort-specific genetic associations
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of coffee consumption among US 23andMe participants (N= 130,153) and identified 7 significant loci, many of which replicated across the three multiple-ancestry cohorts.
Other genetic correlations were also inconsistent, including positive genetic correlations between coffee consumption and psychiatric comorbidities, pain, and gastrointestinal characteristics in 23andMe that were absent or negative in UKB, and genetic correlations with cognition that were negative in 23andMe but positive in UKB.
A phenomenon-wide association study using polygenic coffee intake scores derived from 23andMe or UKB summary statistics also revealed consistent associations with increased odds of obesity- and red blood cell-related traits, but all other associations were cohort-specific.
Our study shows that genetic determinants of coffee consumption are associated with substance employ and obesity in all cohorts, but also that GWAS conducted in different populations may have captured cultural differences in the relationship between behavior and genetics.
