Effect of the GHRL gene (rs696217) polymorphism on the metabolic disorders in patients with obesity in the Ukrainian population

Over the past four decades, the prevalence of obesity has tripled and limited genetic studies with specific SNPs have been conducted, but no investigations using ghrelin and obestatin prepropeptide (GHRL) gene have been reported in the Ukrainians population. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the level of metabolic hormones in the blood of obese patients in relation to the GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism. The study involved 53 obesity cases and 48 non-obesity subjects (controls). The GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism was genotyped using a TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Blood hormones were determined with commercially available kits using a Multi-skan FC analyzer. Carriers of the T allele of the GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism were statistically significantly more in patients diagnosed with obesity compared to controls indicating a genetically determined cause of obesity. We also established a significant effect of the presence of the T allele of the GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism on the decrease in the adiponectin level and the increase of resistin level in obese patients. The study of the effect of genotypes (TT, GT, GG) of the GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism on the metabolic hormone levels in the blood of obese patients did not show reliably significant differences. The presence of the T allele of the GHRL (rs696217) polymorphism in Ukrainian population indicates an increased risk of the obesity development regardless on the homozygous or heterozygous genotype.