Modification effect of sex and obesity on the correlation of LEP polymorphisms with leptin levels in Taiwanese obese women

Abstract

Background Obesity has become the main health issue in developed countries as it impacts life expectancy and increases mortality of cerebrovascular or cardiovascular diseases. The leptin is one of the adipokines which presents in the serum in proportion to the amount of adipose tissue and is translated from LEP gene. It involves in energy homeostasis, lipid and glucose metabolisms, modulation of immune systems, and thermogenesis. Many previous studies have revealed controversial results between LEP polymorphisms and leptin levels in different ages and ethnicities. Herein, we investigated the impacts of LEP polymorphism against leptin levels in Taiwanese subjects. Methods In 599 Taiwanese subjects, excluding clinically overt systemic disease, age below 18 years old, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) level of above 10 mg/L, few of LEP polymorphisms were genotyped with TaqMan SNP genotyping assays, were further analyzed for association with leptin level in univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses with Bonferroni correction for multiple tests in stratified groups. The univariate and stepwise multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to determine the coefficient of determinant of LEP polymorphisms over leptin level. Results Significant associations were found between LEP polymorphisms and leptin levels in obese women. Circulating leptin level was positively correlated with inflammatory, insulin resistance markers, and visceral obesity markers in all subjects. Furthermore, stratified and interaction analyses revealed that LEP polymorphisms, rs7799039 and rs2167270, were significantly associated with leptin levels in obese women—8%–10% of which could be explained by LEP polymorphisms. Conclusion The LEP polymorphisms are independently associated with leptin levels in Taiwanese obese women. Further, the genetic determinants for leptin levels may be different between obese and nonobese, and in different sex individuals. The obesity status and female sex may exert modification effect on transcription of LEP, particularly in obese women.

The single nucleotide polymorphisms rs11761556 and rs12706832 of the leptin gene are associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Iraqi population

“…Concerning the rs2167270 SNP, the observed genetic polymorphism detected in this locus was not associated with any traits measured in the analyzed samples, which suggests the absence of any noticeable correlation with the onset of T2DM in the investigated population. Irrespective of the highly reported involvement of the rs2167270 SNP in many metabolic syndromes [34][35][36][37], this study showed no noticeable role of the SNP in T2DM in the analyzed population.…”

Effects of Sex and Obesity on LEP Variant and Leptin Level Associations in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

“…We previously reported that the LEP SNPs rs7799039 and rs2167270 were significantly associated with leptin levels in obese women. Further univariate analysis demonstrated that both LEP SNPs and inflammation markers, such as CRP and E-selectin, are independently associated with leptin levels [ 55 ]. Moreover, Bains et al conducted a case–control study in an Indian population, and reported that rs7799039 significantly increased the risk of DM in females with a BMI ≥ 23 [ 48 ].…”

The Relationships between Leptin, Genotype, and Chinese Medicine Body Constitution for Obesity

“…Besides, obese patients with YangDC had higher leptin levels compared with the other groups. Duan et al reported that the increased leptin level was significantly and positively correlated with BMI and waist circumference in obese women [ 41 ]. The higher leptin level increased the risk of metabolic syndrome in Taiwanese individuals [ 42 ].…”