Molecular analysis of the CART gene in overweight and obese Italian children using family-based association methods.

AIM In our study, we evaluated if CART gene A1475G and DeltaA1457 polymorphisms could be associated with obesity. PATIENTS AND METHODS We recruited 133 Italian trios from among 103 (50 males and 53 females) overweight children (mean age 10.5 years, range 6-14 years; mean BMI 26.1 +/- 3.2 kg/m(2)), and 30 (16 males and 14 females) obese children (mean age 9.0 years, range 6-11 years; mean BMI 32.3 +/- 2.0 kg/m(2)). We also selected 187 non-obese unrelated controls. RESULTS The allele frequencies of the A1475G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were significantly higher in overweight children (0.07) than in control children (0.02) (p = 0.03) and control adults (0.02) (p = 0.02). Moreover, the allele frequencies were significantly different between obese children (0.08) and control children (0.02) (p = 0.03), and between obese children (0.08) and control adults (0.02) (p = 0.02). The DeltaA1457 SNP showed no significant association with overweight/obesity. TDT statistic revealed a preferential transmission of the 1475G allele from heterozygous parents to overweight children (p < 0.01) and to obese children (p < 0.05). No statistically significant excess transmission of the DeltaA1457 allele was found. CONCLUSION Our results supported the hypothesis that inherited variations of the CART gene could influence the development of obesity also in Italian children.