Association between metabolic disturbances and G-174C polymorphism of interleukin-6 gene in obese children

Abstract

Abstract Objective The aim of the study was to investigate whether the G-174C polymorphism of the IL-6 gene is related to obesity and the incidence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to IDF definition in children. Materials and methods The examined group included 124 obese children with BMI ≥ 2 SDS, and the control group consisted of 56 non-obese children with BMI Results In the obese children, carriers of C allele in homozygotic and heterozygotic genotypes were more frequent than in the control group. The carriers of C alleles presented with lower thickness of subcutaneous tissue and higher concentrations of HDL-C than the wild type. The incidence of MetS was 33% of the group of obese children. Analysis of the presence of MetS factors showed that there is more frequent MetS in the group with the wild homozygous genotype type. Conclusion Polymorphism 174G > C in the IL-6 gene does not seem to be associated with obesity and with the incidence of MetS in children.

Keywords

• interleukin-6
• polymorphism
• obesity
• children
• metabolic syndrome