title: Markers for the gene ob and serum leptin levels in human morbid obesity.
abstract: Leptin, the product of the ob gene, reduces body fat in genetically obese animals and circulates in elevated concentrations in the blood of obese patients. Polymorphic markers situated in the proximity of the human ob gene have recently been suggested to be linked to morbid obesity. We have studied the possible association between the microsatellite markers near the ob gene and morbid obesity in 252 morbidly obese patients with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 43 +/- 7 kg/m2, and 151 lean controls with a mean BMI of 22 +/- 2 kg/m2, and searched for linkage of these gene markers to obesity in 76 affected sib-pairs (BMI > or = 32). No significant association was observed between any of the eight microsatellite markers and morbid obesity, and affected-sib-pair analysis failed to show linkage of three selected ob gene markers to obesity in the sibships. There was a strong positive correlation between serum leptin levels and BMI in morbidly obese patients; a carrier status for either of the two most prevalent alleles of the microsatellite marker D7S530 in the vicinity of the ob gene was associated with serum leptin levels in the obese subjects. Two of the markers (D7S2519, D7S649) showed a significant relation to the weight-losing response to a 16-week very-low-calorie dietary intervention. We have thus been able to confirm a tight relationship between serum leptin and body mass but have found no evidence for genetic linkage of the ob gene markers to morbid obesity in a population considered to represent a genetic isolate and to be an ideal model for studies of complex disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oksanen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heiman
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kainulainen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaprio
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mustajoki
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koivisto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koskenvuo
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Jänne
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kontula
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D020738:Leptin; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008875:Middle Aged; D009679:Nuclear Family; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values; D013851:Thinness / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D005819:Genetic Markers; D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin; D008055:Lipids; D011506:Proteins