30 August, 2016

Wanting another cup of coffee may be in the genes

             A gene that appears to limit the amount of coffee we want to drink has been identified by scientists.

The study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that people with a variation in their DNA known as PDSS2 tend to drink fewer cups of coffee than those without the variant.

An easier caffeine hit

They say that the gene may reduce the ability of cells to breakdown caffeine, causing it to linger in the body longer, reducing the amount of coffee needed to get a 'caffeine hit'.

The research was carried out by a team from the University of Edinburgh and colleagues in Italy and the Netherlands.

First, they analysed the genes of 370 people living in a small village in southern Italy and 843 people from 6 villages in the north of the country.

The participants filled out a questionnaire detailing their coffee drinking habits.

Saying no to that extra cup

The team found that those with the PDSS2 variant drank on average about one less cup of coffee a day than those without the variant.

The researchers then tested their findings on 1,731 people in the Netherlands. The result reflected the Italian findings, but the effect of the gene variant was less pronounced. The scientists say this may reflect different coffee drinking habits in the two countries. For instance, people in the Netherlands favour larger cups of filter coffee, while in Italy, coffee is usually drunk as espresso or moka in smaller cups.

Lead author Nicola Pirastu, from the University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute, comments in a statement: "The results of our study add to existing research suggesting that our drive to drink coffee may be embedded in our genes.

"We need to do larger studies to confirm the discovery and also to clarify the biological link between PDSS2 and coffee consumption."

Source: www.webmed.com

30.08.2016

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