Association of functionally significant Melanocortin-4 but not Melanocortin-3 receptor mutations with severe adult obesity in a large North American casecontrol study

Author： Calton Melissa A. Ersoy Baran A. Zhang Sumei Kane John P. Malloy Mary J. Pullinger Clive R. Bromberg Yana Pennacchio Len A. Dent Robert McPherson Ruth Ahituv Nadav Vaisse Christian

Publisher： Oxford University Press

ISSN： 1460-2083

Source： Human Molecular Genetics, Vol.18, Iss.6, 2009-03, pp. : 1140-1147

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Abstract

Functionally significant heterozygous mutations in the Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) have been implicated in 2.5 of early onset obesity cases in European cohorts. The role of mutations in this gene in severely obese adults, particularly in smaller North American patient cohorts, has been less convincing. More recently, it has been proposed that mutations in a phylogenetically and physiologically related receptor, the Melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R), could also be a cause of severe human obesity. The objectives of this study were to determine if mutations impairing the function of MC4R or MC3R were associated with severe obesity in North American adults. We studied MC4R and MC3R mutations detected in a total of 1821 adults (889 severely obese and 932 lean controls) from two cohorts. We systematically and comparatively evaluated the functional consequences of all mutations found in both MC4R and MC3R. The total prevalence of rare MC4R variants in severely obese North American adults was 2.25 (CI₉₅: 1.443.47) compared with 0.64 (CI₉₅: 0.261.43) in lean controls (P < 0.005).="" after="" classification="" of="" functional="" consequence,="" the="" prevalence="" of="" mc4r="" mutations="" with="" functional="" alterations="" was="" significantly="" greater="" when="" compared="" with="" controls="">P < 0.005).="" in="" contrast,="" the="" prevalence="" of="" rare="">MC3R variants was not significantly increased in severely obese adults [0.67 (CI₉₅: 0.271.50) versus 0.32 (CI₉₅: 0.060.99)] (P 0.332). Our results confirm that mutations in MC4R are a significant cause of severe obesity, extending this finding to North American adults. However, our data suggest that MC3R mutations are not associated with severe obesity in this population.