Objective: To investigate whether leptin receptor (Ob-R) Arg223Gln polymorphism influences serum lipid levels and whether this polymorphism affects the efficiency of the cholesterol lowering HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, simvastatin [Clin. Cardiol. 16 (1993) 317].
Design: Case-control association study.
Subjects: We studied 201 Japanese men without medical care, and 78 Japanese who took simvastatin.
Methods: Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Serum lipid and leptin levels were determined.
Results: Subjects with the Arg/Arg homozygotes had significantly higher serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels than those with the Arg/Gln heterozygotes and Gln/Gln homozygotes (TC: Arg/Arg: 213+/-3, Arg/Gln: 196+/-6, Gln/Gln: 184+/-5, P=0.004 for comparison among three genotypes, P=0.008 for difference between Arg/Arg and Arg/Gln, and P=0.025 for difference between Arg/Arg and Gln/Gln, LDL-C: Arg/Arg: 127+/-3, Arg/Gln: 112+/-6, Gln/Gln: 114+/-8, P=0.027) for comparison among three genotypes and P=0.011 for difference between Arg/Arg and Arg/Gln. Subjects with the Arg/Arg homozygotes had significantly lower serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels than those with the Arg/Gln heterozygotes and Gln/Gln homozygotes (Arg/Arg: 55+/-1, Arg/Gln: 62+/-3, Gln/Gln: 57+/-7, P=0.046) for comparison among three genotypes and P=0.013 for difference between Arg/Arg and Arg/Gln. In addition, in 78 patients with hypercholesterolemia who took 5 mg simvastatin, the TC lowering effect by simvastatin in subjects with the Arg/Arg homozygotes was significantly lower than in those with the Arg/Gln heterozygotes and Gln/Gln homozygotes (the reduction in serum TC levels; 62+/-4 vs. 79+/-6, P=0.044).
Conclusions: We demonstrate that Ob-R Arg223Gln polymorphism in Japanese men is associated with significant elevation of serum TC and LDL-C levels. Our data also show that the Arg/Arg homozygotes tend to show lowered level of serum HDL-C. Furthermore, this polymorphism tends to show an attenuated response to an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor in terms of the cholesterol lowering effect. These results suggest that the Ob-R gene may serve as a novel modifier gene for hypercholesterolemia in Japanese men.