Impact of the C1431T Polymorphism of the PPAR-γ Gene on susceptibility to obesity

Background: The worldwide increasing prevalence of obesity is considered as a major health problem. The C1431T polymorphism in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) has been shown to be associated with metabolic related disorder included obesity. However, the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the association between the PPARγ C1431T polymorphism and risk of obesity in an Iranian population. Material and Methods: TaqMan allelic discrimination assay was used to determine the C1431T polymorphisms in a total of 210 unrelated subjects, including 75/96 obese/overweight and 39 normal controls. Each group was then divided into two subgroups according to the genotype (CC and CT + TT for C1431T). Anthropometric indices, fasting plasma glucose and fasting lipid profile were measured by routine methods. Results: The genotype and allele frequencies of the C1431T exhibited no significant association with obesity neither in the crud state nor after adjustment for age and gender (P > 0.05). However, among the clinical and metabolic parameters tested, HDL-cholesterol showed higher level in individuals carrying the genotype CC (P=0.046). Conclusions: Our results indicated that despite the significant association of C1431T polymorphism with a higher HDL cholesterol level, the PPARgamma gene does not appear to markedly play a role in the susceptibility to develop obesity among Iranian subjects.

Obesity, PPAR gamma, C1431T, polymorphism.