Association Between rs217727 and rs2839698 H19 Polymorphisms and Obesity

Obesity is a worldwide health problem with an increasing trend. This condition has a significant genetic background. H19 lncRNA has been shown to protect from dietary obesity through decreasing levels of monoallelic genes in brown fat. In the current study, we aimed to find the association between two possibly functional H19 polymorphisms, namely rs217727 and rs2839698 and obesity in Iranian population. These polymorphisms have been shown to affect risk of some obesity-related conditions in different populations. The study included 414 obese cases and 392 controls. Notably, both rs2839698 and rs217727 were associated with obesity in the allelic model as well as all supposed inheritance models. In addition, after adjustment for gender, all P values remained significant. For rs2839698, the OR (95% CI) for T allele vs. C allele was 3.29 (2.67-4.05) (P-value < 0.0001). In the co-dominant model, both TT and CT genotypes were found to confer risk of obesity compared with CC genotype (OR (95% CI)= 14.02 (8.39-23.43) and 9.45 (6.36-14.04), respectively). Similarly, combination of TT and CT genotypes had an OR (95% CI) = 10.32 (7.03-15.17) when compared with CC genotype. For rs217727, the T allele was found to exert a protective effect (OR (95% CI) = 0.6 (0.48-0.75)). Moreover, in the co-dominant model, OR (95% CI) values for TT and TC genotypes vs. CC genotype were 0.23 (0.11-0.46) and 0.65 (0.49-0.87), respectively. Taken together, H19 polymorphisms may affect risk of obesity in Iranian population. It is necessary to conduct functional studies to confirm a causal relationship between the rs217727 and rs2839698 polymorphisms and obesity.