Association of lipoprotein lipase gene polymorphisms with obesity and type 2 diabetes in an Asian Indian population.

Aims:Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), a pivotal enzyme in lipoprotein metabolism, catalyzes the hydrolysis of triglycerides of very low-density lipoproteins and chylomicrons. Assuming that the variants in the promoter of the LPL gene may be associated with changes in lipid metabolism leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes, we examined the role of promoter variants (–T93G and –G53C) in the LPL gene in an urban South Indian population.Methods:The study subjects (619 type 2 diabetic and 731 normal glucose-tolerant (NGT) subjects) were chosen from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study, an ongoing population-based study in southern India. The polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction-fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was estimated from the estimates of haplotypic frequencies.Results:The two polymorphisms studied were not in LD. The –T93G was not associated with type 2 diabetes but was associated with obesity. 11.5% of the obese subjects (62/541) had the XG(TG+GG) genotype compared with 6.4% of the nonobese subjects (52/809; P=0.001). The odds ratio for obesity for the XG genotype was 1.766 (95% CI: 1.19–2.63, P=0.005). Subjects with XG genotype also had higher body mass index and waist circumference compared with those with TT genotype. With respect to G53C, subjects with the XC(GC+CC) genotype had 0.527 and 0.531 times lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes and obesity, respectively.Conclusions:Among Asian Indians, the –T93G SNP of the LPL gene is associated with obesity but not type 2 diabetes, whereas the –G53C SNP appears to be protective against both obesity and type 2 diabetes.International Journal of Obesity (2007) 31, 913–918; doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803547; published online 13 February 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]