Mousa Basha Salah Aldin, Akis Iraz
Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Buyukcekmece Campus, Istanbul, 34500, Türkiye.
Vet Res Commun. 2025 Mar 4;49(3):127. doi: 10.1007/s11259-025-10700-4.
Obesity stands out as the most common multifactorial nutritional problem affecting domestic cats. According to studies, the prevalence of overweight or obese cats varies between 11.5% and 63%. Various factors such as breed, age, gender, reproductive status, owner-pet relationship, diet type, and environmental factors have been identified as potential risk factors for the development of obesity in cats. Among the genes involved in regulating energy balance, one of the prominent genes is melanocortin-4 receptor gene (MC4R). A specific missense variant in the feline MC4R gene (c.92 C > T) has been associated with overweight in diabetic domestic shorthaired cats. In this study, it was aimed to determine the polymorphisms in MC4R gene in random bred cats and cats belonging to a registered breed in Turkey and to investigate their relationship with obesity. Blood samples from 30 obese and 20 non-obese cats were collected into sterile vacuum EDTA tubes. Exon 1 of the MC4R was amplified and sequenced. As a result of DNA sequence analysis, we identified a total of six SNPs in the feline MC4R gene, four of which were found for the first time in this study. As a result of comparing allele frequencies in obese and non-obese cats, a significant relationship was found between SNP rs783632116 and obesity. The results of regression analyses evaluating the effects of SNP genotypes, sex and infertility status on feline Body Mass Index (fBMI) indicated that non-synonymous SNPs rs783632116, ss11356259660 and ss11356259661 were significantly associated with fBMI.
肥胖是影响家猫的最常见的多因素营养问题。据研究,超重或肥胖猫的患病率在11.5%至63%之间。品种、年龄、性别、生殖状况、主人与宠物的关系、饮食类型和环境因素等各种因素已被确定为猫肥胖发展的潜在风险因素。在参与调节能量平衡的基因中,一个突出的基因是黑皮质素-4受体基因(MC4R)。猫MC4R基因中的一个特定错义变体(c.92 C>T)与糖尿病家养短毛猫的超重有关。在本研究中,旨在确定土耳其随机繁殖猫和注册品种猫的MC4R基因多态性,并研究它们与肥胖的关系。将30只肥胖猫和20只非肥胖猫的血样采集到无菌真空EDTA管中。扩增并测序MC4R的外显子1。DNA序列分析结果显示,我们在猫MC4R基因中总共鉴定出6个单核苷酸多态性(SNP),其中4个是本研究首次发现的。比较肥胖猫和非肥胖猫的等位基因频率的结果表明,SNP rs783632116与肥胖之间存在显著关系。评估SNP基因型、性别和不育状态对猫体重指数(fBMI)影响的回归分析结果表明,非同义SNP rs783632116、ss11356259660和ss11356259661与fBMI显著相关。