Association of the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism with plasma ghrelin, leptin, IL6 and TNFα concentrations, food intake and eating behaviors in morbidly obese women.

Purpose: The rs17782313 variant of the MC4R gene plays an important role in the obesity phenotype. Studies that evaluate environmental factors and genetic variants associated with obesity may represent a great advance in understanding the development of this disease. This work seeks to assess the association of the polymorphism of MC4R rs17782313 on plasma parameters, including leptin, ghrelin, tumor necrosis factor (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL6), and on the eating behaviors of morbidly obese women.

Methods: 70 adult women with BMI between 40 and 60 kg/m were recruited. Laboratory and anthropometric data were recorded. Using a visual analog scale (VAS), the feelings of hunger and satiety were evaluated. The presence or absence of binge eating was evaluated through the Binge Eating Scale (BES) questionnaire. Habitual food intake was analyzed using 3-day dietary records. TaqMan assays were conducted using real-time PCR to assess genotype polymorphism variants from peripheral blood DNA.

Results: This study found that female patients with the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism had high levels of ghrelin and reduced levels of IL6 in the postprandial period. We observed a higher prevalence of severe binge eating in more than 50% of women with at least one risk allele.

Conclusion: Our hypothesis is that the MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism may influence the release of ghrelin, even without being associated with feelings of hunger and satiety. More than half of women with this polymorphism exhibited severe binge eating.

Level Of Evidence: Level III: case-control analytic study.