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Primary topic: CAT antioxidant gene

CAT Gene and Metabolism: What It Means for Your Body

CAT matters when peroxide buffering may be weaker than workload and recovery demands require.

What is the CAT gene?

CAT encodes catalase, one of the enzymes that helps clear hydrogen peroxide. That makes it a direct peroxide-buffering gene inside oxidative-stress defense.

How CAT affects metabolism

If catalase-related buffering is weaker, oxidative load can accumulate more easily when other redox systems are already under demand.

What happens when CAT is altered

Altered CAT function does not prove active oxidative stress, but it increases the value of direct redox validation.

Curated SNP evidence for CAT

These SNPs come from the approved study-level evidence model. Each claim is scored from curated study rows, then gated before it can influence pathway scoring.

Oxidative stress

Evidence-backed report connection

CAT currently has 2 curated SNPs, 6 claim-level scores, and 3 claims eligible for pathway scoring.

Open the sample report
rs1001179CAT promoter signal3 claims · 6 study rows

expression · TT

CAT gene expression

Moderate

rs1001179 TT is associated with increased CAT gene expression.

CAT rs1001179 is scored as a tendency toward higher CAT expression for T-containing genotypes, strongest for TT.

Likely effectHigher gene expression signal
Signal sizeModerate signal
Evidence supportModerate support
Report useIncluded in pathway scoring
Show study evidence
PubMed 11182520functional assay · directForsberg et al. studied the CAT promoter polymorphism rs1001179, also described as -262C/T. In reporter experiments, the T variant showed higher transcriptional activity in HepG2 and K562 cells, and red blood cell catalase levels were higher in donors carrying the T allele than in CC donors. This supports a higher CAT expression tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 27225276expression eqtl · directA study of healthy peripheral blood cells reported significant differences in CAT mRNA levels by CAT promoter genotypes including C-262T rs1001179. This supports treating rs1001179 as an expression-related variant, while keeping the certainty moderate because expression can vary by tissue and study design.

expression · CT

CAT gene expression

Moderate

rs1001179 CT is associated with increased CAT gene expression.

CAT rs1001179 is scored as a tendency toward higher CAT expression for T-containing genotypes, strongest for TT.

Likely effectHigher gene expression signal
Signal sizeSmall signal
Evidence supportModerate support
Report useIncluded in pathway scoring
Show study evidence
PubMed 11182520functional assay · directForsberg et al. studied the CAT promoter polymorphism rs1001179, also described as -262C/T. In reporter experiments, the T variant showed higher transcriptional activity in HepG2 and K562 cells, and red blood cell catalase levels were higher in donors carrying the T allele than in CC donors. This supports a higher CAT expression tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 27225276expression eqtl · directA study of healthy peripheral blood cells reported significant differences in CAT mRNA levels by CAT promoter genotypes including C-262T rs1001179. This supports treating rs1001179 as an expression-related variant, while keeping the certainty moderate because expression can vary by tissue and study design.

expression · CC

CAT gene expression

Not used for pathway scoring

rs1001179 CC has no scored directional claim for CAT gene expression.

CAT rs1001179 is scored as a tendency toward higher CAT expression for T-containing genotypes, strongest for TT.

Likely effectNo clear expression signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
PubMed 11182520functional assay · directForsberg et al. studied the CAT promoter polymorphism rs1001179, also described as -262C/T. In reporter experiments, the T variant showed higher transcriptional activity in HepG2 and K562 cells, and red blood cell catalase levels were higher in donors carrying the T allele than in CC donors. This supports a higher CAT expression tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 27225276expression eqtl · directA study of healthy peripheral blood cells reported significant differences in CAT mRNA levels by CAT promoter genotypes including C-262T rs1001179. This supports treating rs1001179 as an expression-related variant, while keeping the certainty moderate because expression can vary by tissue and study design.
rs769217CAT supporting signal3 claims · 6 study rows

enzyme activity · TT

CAT enzyme activity

Moderate

rs769217 TT is associated with reduced CAT enzyme activity.

CAT rs769217 is scored as a modest lower catalase enzyme-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.

Likely effectLower enzyme activity signal
Signal sizeSmall signal
Evidence supportModerate support
Report useIncluded in pathway scoring
Show study evidence
Evidence 1functional assay · directIn a Danish prospective cohort analysis, CAT rs769217 was associated with erythrocyte catalase enzyme activity. Activity decreased for each T allele overall, with the clearest signal among controls; the case-only signal was weaker. This supports a conservative lower-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 28968965functional assay · directThe PubMed abstract for the same study states that functional polymorphisms in CAT, SOD1, and GSR were evaluated with measured antioxidant enzyme activities, and that several polymorphisms were strongly associated with enzyme activity but not with breast cancer risk by themselves. This supports using rs769217 for enzyme-activity tendency only, not disease prediction.

enzyme activity · CT

CAT enzyme activity

Not used for pathway scoring

rs769217 CT is associated with reduced CAT enzyme activity.

CAT rs769217 is scored as a modest lower catalase enzyme-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.

Likely effectLower enzyme activity signal
Signal sizeSmall signal
Evidence supportModerate support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
Evidence 1functional assay · directIn a Danish prospective cohort analysis, CAT rs769217 was associated with erythrocyte catalase enzyme activity. Activity decreased for each T allele overall, with the clearest signal among controls; the case-only signal was weaker. This supports a conservative lower-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 28968965functional assay · directThe PubMed abstract for the same study states that functional polymorphisms in CAT, SOD1, and GSR were evaluated with measured antioxidant enzyme activities, and that several polymorphisms were strongly associated with enzyme activity but not with breast cancer risk by themselves. This supports using rs769217 for enzyme-activity tendency only, not disease prediction.

enzyme activity · CC

CAT enzyme activity

Not used for pathway scoring

rs769217 CC has no scored directional claim for CAT enzyme activity.

CAT rs769217 is scored as a modest lower catalase enzyme-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.

Likely effectNo clear enzyme signal
Signal sizeMinimal signal
Evidence supportVery limited support
Report useEvidence only, not scored
Show study evidence
Evidence 1functional assay · directIn a Danish prospective cohort analysis, CAT rs769217 was associated with erythrocyte catalase enzyme activity. Activity decreased for each T allele overall, with the clearest signal among controls; the case-only signal was weaker. This supports a conservative lower-activity tendency for T-containing genotypes.PubMed 28968965functional assay · directThe PubMed abstract for the same study states that functional polymorphisms in CAT, SOD1, and GSR were evaluated with measured antioxidant enzyme activities, and that several polymorphisms were strongly associated with enzyme activity but not with breast cancer risk by themselves. This supports using rs769217 for enzyme-activity tendency only, not disease prediction.

Common symptoms people report

  • slower recovery
  • greater sensitivity under high oxidative load
  • fatigue that feels recovery-limited

Biomarkers to validate

GSH/GSSG ratio

Useful redox context.

Oxidative stress panels

Adds broader oxidant-load context.

Inflammation context

Helpful when systemic load overlaps.

Where DNA analysis helps

DNA helps show when peroxide buffering deserves attention inside a broader redox review.

Example Insight

Your peroxide-buffering capacity may deserve closer follow-up under sustained oxidative load.

Suggested validation: GSH/GSSG ratio plus an oxidative stress panel.

What to do next

  • Validate redox markers before assuming low catalase support is active.
  • Review CAT with GPX1 and SOD2 rather than alone.
  • Use recovery and workload context in interpretation.

Upload your DNA file and receive a structured metabolic pathway analysis with prioritized insights and suggested validation markers.

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Related pages

GPX1

GPX1 antioxidant gene

SOD2

SOD2 oxidative stress gene

GSH/GSSG ratio

GSH GSSG ratio explained

Oxidative stress panel

oxidative stress panel and redox load

Oxidative stress defense pathway

oxidative stress defense pathway

Inflammation and immune signaling pathway

inflammation immune signaling pathway

Can DNA predict metabolism?

can DNA predict metabolism

Best DNA test for metabolism

best DNA test for metabolism

Related symptom angle

Low energy metabolism causes

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