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 D A1457 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 sig- nificantly 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 con- trol adults (0.02) (p = 0.02). The D A1457 SNP showed no significant association with over- weight ⁄ 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 statisti- cally significant excess transmission of the D A1457 allele was found.