Objective: To study on the polymorphism of UCP2 gene in Chengdu simple obesity and normal-weight people and to initially investigate the relationship between UCP2 Ala55Val variation and gut bacteria.
Methods: PCR-PFLP was applied to determine the genotypes of Ala55Val variant in the UCP2 gene of 86 Chengdu people (the simple obesity group, 43 subjects; the normal-weight group, 43 subjects). And six kinds of gut bacteria among different genotypes in different groups were analyzed.
Results: Both the simple obesity and the normal-weight group had the Ala55Val variants of Ala/Ala, Val/Val and Ala/Val in the UCP2 gene, and the Ala55Val genotype distributions between the two groups was significantly different (chi2=11.97, P< 0.05). The allelic mutation frequency in the simple obesity group was higher than that of the normal-weight group (chi2=10.06, P<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the population of six gut bacteria among different genotypes in different groups (P>0.05).
Conclusion: The UCP2 gene mutation might be a risk factor of obesity in Chengdu area. However, this gene mutation may not be an impact factor on the alternation of gut bacteria.