Influence of Gene Polymorphism on Obesity in Egyptian Children.

BACKGROUND

Obesity is a multi-factorial chronic disorder. A considerable number of studies have been performed to figure out whether there is an association between obesity and polymorphisms of gene , but the results are equivocal.

AIM

This study aimed to find out whether the gene was associated with the risk of developing obesity in Egyptian children.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The study included 149 children and adolescents with age ranged between 9.5 - 18 years. Eighty-five of them were obese which BMIZ-score is > 2, and sixty-four children with BMIZ-score ≤ 2 served as control group. Serum level of IL-6 and genetic analysis for gene polymorphism were done.

RESULTS

Obese children had significantly higher serum levels of as compared to those of control children (P = 0.003). A high percentage of polymorphism was found in obese subjects (93.7%), while the control group had a higher percentage of polymorphism (70.6 %).

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that carriers of the allele for the polymorphism have higher BMI. As the polymorphism is likely to affect IL-6 expression and its physiological regulation; consequently this polymorphism may affect adiposity.