Associations of single nucleotide polymorphism rs17782313 in melanocortin 4 receptor gene with anthropometric indices in normal and obesity primary school children in Hanoi

Abstract

Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) has roles in regulating food intake and energy balance. A number of studies have reported that variant rs17782313 is significantly associated with obesity in many populations. However, their contribution to obesity in the Vietnamese population is not fully described. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association of rs17782313 with anthropometric indices and obesity in the Vietnamese children population. A case-control study was conducted on 559 children aged 6-11 years (278 obese cases and 281 normal controls). The nutrition status of the children was classified using both criteria of International Obesity Task Force 2000 and World Health Organization 2007. The results showed that in normal group, the data of z score of weight for age was highest in CC genotype group and was lowest in TT genotype group (0.11 and -0.38 respectively, P=0.023). In obese group, the waist hip ratio was lowest in TT genotype group and the highest one was in CC genotype group (0.93 and 0.97 respectively, P=0.031). Our findings indicate that the variant rs17782313 near MC4R is likely to have an impact on the changing of weight and central obesity in the Vietnamese children.