Gene Polymorphisms of Human FTO and Obesity in Part of Iranian Population

Maryam Ostadsharif, Y. Badri Ebrahimi, Farzad R. Khorasgani, Shahin Eghbalsaied

Abstract

As obesity is a multifactorial characteristic, identifying genetic risk factors can help to prevent obesity prevalence. In 2007, FTO (fat mass and obesity associated) gene was identified according to genome-wide association study. Several studies revealed that FTO polymorphisms are responsible for the risk of obesity. The primary objective of our study was assessment of FTO rs9939609 and rs9926289 polymorphisms as risk factors of obesity in part of the Iranian population. In our case–control study, 62 patients with obesity and 75 controls were selected according to their BMI (obese: BMI  30 kg/m2 and control: BMI: 18.5-24.9 kg/m2). Blood samples were collected from individuals for biochemical param- eters assessment and genotyping analysis. After genotyping by high resolution melting (HRM) technique, the odds ratio was used to examine the relationship between the risk factors and the disease; 95% of confidence interval was used for these calculations. The difference in the age, FBS, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and BMI between individuals with obesity and the control group was significant. The analysis of rs9939609 FTO gene showed significant association between the AA1TA genotype and TT according to the dominant model. No association was observed for genotypes of the FTO rs9926289 polymorphism. In addition, there was no significant correlation of biochemical parameters and dominant model genotypes of rs9939609 polymorphisms. Our study suggests that FTO rs9939609 polymorphisms appear to be associated with obesity in part of the Iranian population. AA1TA genotype of rs9939609 polymorphism is a risk factor of obesity. However, further examination should be carried out on large populations.

Keywords: Obesity, Polymorphism, FTO gene, BMI