The association of the FTO gene polymorphism with overweight in russian population

Abstract

Aim. To investigate the association of the first intron of FTO (fat mass and obesity associated) gene T/A (rs9939609) polymorphism and overweight in Russian population. Methods. 107 (females 48, males 59) overweight (body mass index 25.0-29.9 kg/m2) subjects or subjects with obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) were included. The control group (body mass index ≤24.9 kg/m2) consisted of 453 subjects (females 323, males 130). Genotyping for the T/A (rs9939609) polymorphism of the FTO gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme digestion. Results. The frequency of the FTO A allele in subjects with overweight or obesity was significantly higher compared to controls (45.3% vs. 33.4%; p=0.0015). The genotype distribution of the FTO gene T/A polymorphism (TT - 32.7%, TA - 43.9%, AA - 23.4%) in a group of subjects with overweight or obesity was significantly different compared with controls (TT - 44.6%, TA - 43.9%, AA - 11.5%; p=0.0028). The relative risk of being overweight or obese was 2.4 for subjects with the FTO AA genotype. Conclusions. The results of the presented study suggest an association of the FTO gene T/A polymorphism with the risk of obesity, which is consistent with the data of numerous studies.