The Association Between Arg72Pro C>G Polymorphism in the p53 Gene and the Risk of Obesity

Introduction: The role of genetic factors in obesity has long been recognized, but their involved specific genes remained unidentified. The relationship between p53 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms and the risk of obesity has been investigated in recent years. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association of p53 Arg72Pro C>G (rs1042522) polymorphism with the risk of obesity in our study. Methods: This study included 52 patients with obesity (26 were females and 26 were males) and 52 normal-weight healthy controls. Genomic DNA isolation was performed from the blood samples of all participants. p53 Arg72Pro C>G (rs1042522) polymorphism was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction from genomic DNA samples. Results: No significant associations were identified between Arg72Pro (rs1042522) p53 polymorphism and obesity risk. Glucose levels are significantly different between the obese and control groups with the CC and CG genotypes, but without difference in the GG homozygous genotype. Conclusion: Our study is one of the first to investigate the relationship between p53 codon 72 polymorphisms and obesity risk but revealed no correlation between them. The relatively small number of participants may limit our study. Further research is needed in a large cohort to associate the p53 gene Arg72Pro C>G (rs1042522) variant with obesity risk.