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Association of Leptin Gene -2548 G/A Polymorphism with Obesity: A Meta-Analysis

0.65) and a control group of 135 normal weight youngsters (54.8% females, 10.6 ± 1.3 years with a Z-BMI of –0.18 ± 0.72). Their nutritional state was diagnosed based on WHO standards. In our study, it was observed through logistic regression analysis adjusted for gender and age that a higher frequency of individuals with the polymorphic allele (GA/AA) genotype existed among obese children and adolescents when compared to those in the control group (OR = 1.530; 95% CI 1.022–2.292; p = 0.039). In addition, comparisons stratified by gender and pubertal stage demonstrated that pre-pubertal obese girls carrying the A allele showed higher leptin levels (49.0 ± 23.3 vs. 39.3 ± 16.2 ng/ml; p = 0.041), along with a trend of increased leptin levels adjusted for fat mass (2.2 ± 1.0 vs. 1.8 ± 0.7 ng/ml/kg; p = 0.055) in comparison to girls with the GG genotype. Similar to the results found in Turkish [2] and Tunisian populations [3] and in agreement with our findings, a study that enrolled 613 adolescents from a multiethnic population of Malaysia demonstrated the association between the AA genotype with increased risk for overweight and obesity in Indian male adolescents (OR = 3.64; 95% CI 1.15–11.54; p = 0.025) [4] . Nevertheless, despite the controversial results or the lack of association regarding the G-2548A polymorphism in the literature, results must be carefully interpreted We read with great interest the recent article by Zhang and colleagues in which the common single nucleotide polymorphism G-2548A (rs7799039) in the leptin gene (LEP) related to obesity risk [1] was investigated through a meta-analysis . This polymorphism consists in an exchange of a guanine (G) for adenine (A) at position -2548 in the promoter region of LEP gene. The meta-analysis did not detect any association between the polymorphism and risk of obesity in overall population; however, the combined analysis suggested a relationship of the G-2548A with obesity in the subgroup of a mixed race from Brazil. It is important to be aware that a higher incidence of ancestral G allele carriers and GG genotype individuals among the obese group suggests a protective effect by the polymorphism rather than indicate risk of obesity. Thus, figure 2 on pages 132 and 133 wrongly illustrate the effect of the polymorphism [1] . We would like to contribute original data from a cross-sectional study concerning the G-2548A polymorphism and obesity risk in Brazilian children and adolescents of both genders, aged 7 to 19, who also had anthropometric variables and cardiometabolic risk factors assessed [unpublished data]. The study population comprised a cohort of 465 children and adolescents with severe obesity (52.7% females, 12.5 ± 2.9 years with a Z-BMI of +3.27 ± Published online: February 6, 2015