Genetic associations of the visfatin G‑948T polymorphism with obesity‑related metabolic traits in an Iranian population

Obesity is a global public health problem. Visfatin, as an adipocytokine, is coded by a gene known as nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase. So far, results were conflicted regarding correlations of visfatin with obesity and metabolic variables. The present study aimed to explore the association between G‑948T polymorphism of visfatin gene with obesity and lipid profile in a nationally representative sample of Iranian population.

In this cas –control study, we assessed 129 randomly selected patients with obesity and 182 healthy normal weight controls from participants of Isfahan Healthy Heart Program. Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood cells, and high‑resolution melt polymerase chain reaction was performed to explore the presence of G‑948T polymorphism.

T carriers “GT TT” were statistically more frequent in the obese patients than the controls (P = 0.013; odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval = 1.1–3.1). The serum levels of total cholesterol and low‑density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‑C) were significantly different between T carriers and GG homozygote genotype (P = 0.03 and 0.02, respectively).

We concluded that visfatin G‑948T polymorphism was correlated with obesity, total cholesterol, and LDL‑C levels in our population.