Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism and obesity a pilot study from Egypt.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Molecular Biology Department. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), Sadat City University, Sadat City, Menoufia, Egypt

Abstract

The main adverse consequences of excess bodyweight are cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and several cancers. IL-1Ra serum concentration has been reported earlier to increase in human obesity and it is therefore assumed that the polymorphism of IL-1Ra may influence cytokine production. The study was designed to investigate whether the IL-1Ra polymorphism was associated with obesity. A total number of 66 individuals; 20 normal (BMI <25 Kg/m2), 20 overweight (BMI 25-29.9 Kg/m2) and 26 obese (BMI More than 30.0 Kg/m2) were enrolled in this study. Genotyping was performed using a polymerase chain reaction PCR amplification of the intron-2 fragment harboring a variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) nucleotide sequences 86 bp of tandem repeat. The PCR products were separated on 2% agarose gel. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 11.5). The genotype and allelic frequencies showed a significantly difference between normal vs. overweight and normal vs. obese (p-values: 0.001; 0.0001; 0.0018 and 0.001 respectively). Although, The presence of Allelic frequencies for Allele I between normal vs. overweight and normal vs. obese showed > 2 folds risk in overweight and >3 folds in obese (OR=2.3; 95% CI=0.796-8.620 & OR=2.1; 95% CI=0.972-10.265 respectively). Allele II between normal vs. overweight and normal vs. obese showed > 3.5 folds risk in overweight and >1.5 folds in obese (OR=3.45; 95% CI=0.836-9.210 & OR=1.63; 95% CI=0.892-9.11 respectively) and Allele V between normal vs. overweight and normal vs. obese showed > 2 folds risk in overweight and >1.5 folds in obese (OR=1.99; 95% CI=0.821-9.10 & OR=1.95; 95% CI=0.882-8.975 respectively).This may suggest that IL-1Ra appears to be induced by inflammatory stimuli as well as obesity-associated factors. This is relatively a pilot study; but nevertheless, may assist in identifying the pathophysiological cause for obesity

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