Sharon P Fowler

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio | UT HSC · Department of Medicine

High concentrations of carotenoids are protective against cardiometabolic risk traits (CMTs) in adults and children. We recently showed in non-diabetic Mexican American (MA) children that serum α-carotene and β-carotene are inversely correlated with obesity measures and triglycerides and positively with HDL cholesterol and that they were under stro...

Aim: Acanthosis nigricans (AN) is a strong correlate of obesity and is considered a marker of insulin resistance (IR). AN is associated with various other cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs). However, the direct causal relationship of IR with AN in obesity has been debated. Therefore, we aimed to examine the complex causal relationships among the...

Acanthosis nigricans (AN) is highly prevalent in Mexican Americans (MAs). It is a strong correlate of obesity, and is considered a marker of insulin resistance (IR). AN is associated with various other cardiometabolic risk factors (CMF). However, the direct causal relationship of IR with AN in obesity has been recently questioned. Therefore, we aim...

We have recently reported that serum concentrations of α-carotene (AC) and β-carotene (BC) are under strong genetic influences and were correlated with obesity and other cardio-metabolic traits in Mexican American (MA) children. Our previously developed Pediatric Metabolic Index (PMI) correlates with insulin resistance (IR) after adjusting for age...

Knowledge on genetic and environmental (G × E) interaction effects on cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) in children is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of G × E interaction effects on CMRFs in Mexican American (MA) children (n = 617, ages 6-17 years). The environments examined were sedentary activity (SA), assessed by...

Background: Dietary intake of phytonutrients present in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, is associated with a lower risk of obesity and related traits, but the impact of genetic variation on these associations is poorly understood, especially in children.Objective: We estimated common genetic influences on serum carotenoid concentrations...

Background: Dietary intake of phytonutrients present in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, is associated with a lower risk of obesity and related traits, but the impact of genetic variation on these associations is poorly understood, especially in children. Objective: We estimated common genetic influences on serum carotenoid concentration...

Populations and individuals differ in susceptibility to infections because of a number of factors, including host genetic variation. We previously demonstrated that differences in antibody titer, which reflect infection history, are significantly heritable. Here we attempt to identify the genetic factors influencing variation in these serological p...

Pediatric metabolic syndrome (MS) and its cardiometabolic components (MSCs) have become increasingly prevalent, yet little is known about the genetics underlying MS risk in children. We examined the prevalence and genetics of MS-related traits among 670 non-diabetic Mexican American (MA) children and adolescents, aged 6-17 years (49 % female), who...

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) has been rising alarmingly worldwide, including in the United States, but knowledge on specific genetic determinants of MS is very limited. Therefore, we planned to identify the genetic determinants of MS as defined by National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATPIII) criteria....

Supplementary Figure 1 S1 online: Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) between the SNP pairs in CD36 Supplementary Figure 2 S2 online: Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) between the SNP pairs in GNAT3 Supplementary Table S1. Association of the SNPs in CD36 and GNAT3 with MS related phenotypes Supplementary Table S2. Linkage reports of MS-related phenotypes by vari...

We studied 706 participants of the San Antonio Family Diabetes Study (SAFDS) and 586 male samples from the San Antonio Center for Biomarkers of Risk of Prostate Cancer (SABOR) and used 64 ancestry informative markers to compare admixture proportions between both groups. Existence of population substructure was demonstrated by the excess association...

We have examined the relationship between artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption and long-term weight gain in the San Antonio Heart Study. From 1979 to 1988, height, weight, and ASB consumption were measured among 5,158 adult residents of San Antonio, Texas. Seven to eight years later, 3,682 participants (74% of survivors) were re-examin...

In the San Antonio Heart Study (SAHS) we investigated the effects of exposure to parental smoking on diabetes, hypertension and the metabolic syndrome in adult offspring aged 25-64 years. In a retrospective cohort study the parental smoking status during childhood, obtained through a postal questionnaire, determined a person's exposure status. Logi...