The Relation between Childhood Obesity and MC4R Gene and Near MC4R Polymorphisms

Childhood obesity, especially in the developed countries including all over the world has an increasing prevalence. Regarding the major impact on public health perspective, childhood obesity should be monitored closely. Many researchers reported MC4R gene and near MC4R region polymorphisms to predispose monogenic obesity both in children and adults. In this study we investigated the relation between childhood obesity and Ser58Cys, Val50Met, Ile102Ser, Val103Ile, Asn274Ser, rs17782313 and rs17700633 polymorphisms in MC4R gene and near MC4R region in the Turkish population. It is very important to detect single gene disorders that may cause childhood obesity in order to screen children for the predisposition of obesity, as to protect them from environmental factors that may cause weight gain.