STUDIES ON LEPTIN AND MC4R GENE IN OBESE POPULATION OF SOUTH WESTERN PROVINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA

Obesity has appeared as one of the major public health problem and economic burden worldwide. The rates of obesity are exploding in Saudi Arabia, approximately 30-50% of adult population is obese or overweight with an alarming increase of over 1% annually, one of the highest in the world. Sedentary life style, and complex polygenic factors are thought to play an important role. Studies pertaining to different physical factor responsible for this rise have been widely documented but biochemical and molecular aspects are not studied for this population. This study evaluated the serum leptin levels among Saudi obese, non-obese subjects. Concurrently, measuring the leptin resistance and possible major addition or deletions in MC4R gene using PCR. A total of 160 Saudi obese and non-obese subjects were analyzed for circulating leptin levels, MC4R gene polymorphism, leptin resistance and dyslipidemic parameters. It was found that the mean circulating levels of leptin were 14.41ng/ml in the obese subjects with a significant prevalence of leptin resistance (36.53%). Moreover the prevalence of dyslipidemia among them was estimated as 35.63%. With regards to MC4R gene, 63% shown amplification with the first set of primer (Figure A) while 20% of them were amplified with second set of primer. However, in the remaining17% we didn't get any amplification indicating the possibility of mutation in the gene. Thus our study suggest significant prevalence of leptin resistance and possible mutations in melanocortin 4 receptor gene among the obese Saudi population however further whole genome sequencing and variance analysis from extremely obese subjects may yield important insights into genetic aspects of obesity in this population.