Mutation Analysis of the Preproghrelin Gene: No Association with Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

Objective: To investigate the preproghrelin gene for variants and their association with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Design And Method: 82 obese probands were analyzed for mutations using single-strand conformational polymorphism, heteroduplex analyses and sequencing. Association studies were performed in 234 juvenile-onset obese and 323 lean men and in 557 type 2 diabetic and 233 glucose tolerant subjects.

Results: We identified two novel variants, 36C > T and IVS3 + 715delC, and 4 known variants, Arg51Gln, Leu72Met, Gln90Leu, and IVS1 + 169G > A. None of the variants showed any significant association with obesity or type 2 diabetes or estimates of glucose and lipid metabolism in glucose tolerant subjects.

Conclusion: Variation in the preproghrelin gene is not associated with juvenile-onset obesity, type 2 diabetes or related phenotypes among the examined Danish Caucasian subjects.