Background: Leptin is a hormone mainly produced by adipose tissue. It acts on both energy intake and expenditure to maintain relative stability of body weight and energy storage over long period of time. Variation in size of the tetranucleotide repeat located at the 3' end of leptin gene (LEP3'HVR) can influence leptin expression.
Objectives: To predict the association of LEP3'HVR and obesity.
Materials and methods: A case control study consisting of 40 individuals with normal BMI (control group) and 35 individuals with abnormal BMI. LEP3'HVR polymorphic region was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and fragments were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS (SPSS, Chicago, Ill).
Results: The frequency of LEP3'HVR class I was 52.8% in individuals with abnormal BMI versus 42.5% in the individuals with normal BMI. The homozygous class I (I/I) genotype was identified in 40% of the individuals with abnormal BMI vs 25% of the control group. Individuals with I/I genotypes showed a higher prevalence of obesity when compared with homozygous class II/II genotype (odds ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 0.6-5.6).
Conclusion: Class (I/I) genotype of LEP3'HVR was associated with increase risk of obesity.