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A resistin gene polymorphism is associated with body mass index in women

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Abstract

The potential association of resistin (RETN) gene variability with obesity-related phenotypes was investigated in 585 non-diabetic individuals of European descent. The polymorphism studied (−420 C>G) is located in the RETN gene 5′-flanking region. A significant association between the polymorphism and body mass index and waist circumference was observed in the women subsample (n=356), where the G allele was somewhat less frequent in the overweight/obese group than in normal-weight individuals (0.25 vs. 0.32; p=0.040; OR=0.70 [0.50–0.98]). Female carriers of the G-allele presented a lower mean BMI than C/C homozygotes (25.5 vs. 26.8 kg/m2; p=0.010). Furthermore, when women were stratified by menopausal status, the association was restricted to premenopausal women (C/C homozygotes, mean BMI=26.3 kg/m2; G-carriers, 24.4 kg/m2; p=0.014). Our findings suggest that RETN gene variation has gender-specific effects on BMI and warrants further investigation of its implications for the development of obesity.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Ana Lúcia S. Antunes and Maria Perpetua de Oliveira Pinto from the Clinical Analysis Laboratory of the Pharmacy College of Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and to Fabiana M. de Andrade, Marilu Fiegenbaum, Silvana de Almeida and Marcel Arsand for help in the sample collection. Financial support was provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil), Programa de Apoio a Núcleos de Excelência (PRONEX, Brazil) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS, Brazil).

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  1. Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15053, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Vanessa S. Mattevi, Verônica M. Zembrzuski & Mara H. Hutz

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  1. Vanessa S. Mattevi
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  2. Verônica M. Zembrzuski
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  3. Mara H. Hutz
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Correspondence to Mara H. Hutz.

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Mattevi, V.S., Zembrzuski, V.M. & Hutz, M.H. A resistin gene polymorphism is associated with body mass index in women. Hum Genet 115, 208–212 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00439-004-1128-4

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