Association of LEP rs7799039 and LEPR rs1137101 polymorphisms with obesity in Vietnamese preschool children

Abstract

Background

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes that regulate body weight and energy homeostasis, such as LEP and LEPR, may influence susceptibility to obesity. The present study aims to evaluate the association of LEP rs7799039 and LEPR rs1137101 polymorphisms with obesity in Vietnamese preschool children.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted on 1146 preschool children aged 3–6 years (360 obese children and 786 normal-weight children). Genotypes at rs7799039 and rs1137101 loci were identified by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique.

Results

After adjusting for age and sex, single SNP analysis indicated an association of LEP rs7799039 with obesity (OR∗ = 1.41, P∗ = 0.01 in the recessive model), but no association between LEPR rs1137101 and obesity was found. In SNP-SNP interaction analysis, the combination of LEP rs7799039 AA and LEPR rs1137101 GG genotypes conferred a greater risk of obesity (OR∗ = 1.48, P∗ = 0.015).

Conclusions

This study implies a synergistic effect of LEP rs7799039 and LEPR rs1137101 on obesity susceptibility. Therefore, these two polymorphisms are potential genetic markers to predict childhood obesity in the Vietnamese population.