A large genetic study from Taiwan has found that a common uric-acid-raising gene variant raises the risk of hyperuricemia regardless of whether people eat a vegetarian diet, challenging the assumption that plant-based eating can buffer inherited metabolic risk. The research, published in Genes & Nutrition, analyzed more than eleven thousand participants from the Taiwan Biobank and found no meaningful interaction between the ABCG2 rs2231142 polymorphism and dietary pattern.<\/p>\n
The study was designed as a population-based case-control analysis of 11,113 Taiwan Biobank participants. The researchers compared carriers of the high-risk GT and TT genotypes at rs2231142 with those carrying the reference GG genotype, and crossed this genetic classification with self-reported dietary habits, vegetarian versus non-vegetarian. Logistic regression models adjusted for a range of clinical confounders were used to estimate odds ratios for hyperuricemia and to test for gene\u2013diet interaction.<\/p>\n
The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia in the cohort was 11.1 percent. Participants carrying the GT or TT genotypes showed both a higher prevalence and a significantly elevated adjusted risk of hyperuricemia compared with GG carriers. Crucially, the formal interaction test between the polymorphism and dietary pattern was not statistically significant (P for interaction = 0.610), indicating that the genetic effect operated similarly in both dietary groups.<\/p>\n
The numbers make this pattern concrete. Compared with vegetarian GG carriers, GT\/TT carriers who were vegetarians had an adjusted odds ratio for hyperuricemia of 2.198 (95 percent confidence interval 1.369\u20133.528, p = 0.0011), while GT\/TT non-vegetarians had an odds ratio of 2.171 (95 percent confidence interval 1.466\u20133.215, p < 0.001). The near-identical estimates across the two diets are the statistical core of the paper\u2019s conclusion that vegetarianism does not attenuate the genetic risk.<\/p>\n
Sex-stratified analyses sharpened the signal among women. Female GT\/TT carriers had significantly higher odds of hyperuricemia whether they were vegetarians (odds ratio 3.560, 95 percent confidence interval 1.504\u20138.427) or non-vegetarians (odds ratio 3.405, 95 percent confidence interval 1.580\u20137.336). <\/p>\n
Stratification by alcohol consumption and body mass index produced a consistent picture. Non-drinkers with the GT\/TT genotype faced increased odds of hyperuricemia in both dietary categories, with odds ratios of 2.082 among vegetarians and 2.109 among non-vegetarians. <\/p>\n
Body weight modified the magnitude but not the direction of the genetic effect. In participants with a body mass index of 24 kg\/m\u00b2 or above, GT\/TT carriers had significantly increased odds of hyperuricemia whether vegetarian (odds ratio 1.854, 95 percent confidence interval 1.096\u20133.139) or non-vegetarian (odds ratio 1.794, 95 percent confidence interval 1.171\u20132.747). In the leaner subgroup below 24 kg\/m\u00b2, the odds ratios were substantially larger, at 4.861 for vegetarians and 3.282 for non-vegetarians, suggesting that in the absence of obesity-related metabolic load the genetic variant accounts for a proportionally greater share of hyperuricemia risk.<\/p>\n
The authors frame their findings as a \u201cgenetics-over-diet\u201d paradigm: the T allele at rs2231142 exerts a dominant influence on urate homeostasis that a vegetarian diet cannot offset. On this reading, dietary modification alone may be insufficient for people who carry the high-risk genotype, and the paper\u2019s conclusion argues that clinical management should prioritize genetic screening and early pharmacological intervention to enhance urate excretion in the Taiwanese population. <\/p>\n
Subject of Research: Gene\u2013diet interaction between the ABCG2 rs2231142 polymorphism and vegetarian diet in hyperuricemia risk in a Taiwanese cohort<\/p>\n
Article Title: The interaction between ABCG2 rs2231142 polymorphism and vegetarian diet on the prevalence of hyperuricemia in a large Taiwanese cohort<\/p>\n
Article References: Ding, W.-Y., Lin, C.-H., Lin, J.-F., Cheng, Y.-M., Hsu, P.-S., & Lin, C.-S. (2026). The interaction between ABCG2 rs2231142 polymorphism and vegetarian diet on the prevalence of hyperuricemia in a large Taiwanese cohort. Genes & Nutrition. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12263-026-00816-w<\/a><\/p>\n Image Credits: AI Generated<\/p>\n