Association of leptin receptor gene Gln223Arg polymorphism with susceptibility to colorectal cancer

AIM: Leptin is a 16 kDa polypeptide hormone which secreted by adipose tissue and has an important role in energy balance, insulin pathway and inflammation, because of that it may play an important role in colorectal cancer (CRC). Leptin exerts its effect through the leptin receptor (LEPR) a member of the class I cytokine receptor family. BACKGROUND: We have investigated whether glutamine to arginine substitution (Gln223Arg) in exon 6 of the leptin receptor gene, has implications for susceptibility to CRC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme digestion (RFLP) was performed to evaluate the association between the Gln223Arg polymorphism of the LEPR and CRC risk in a case-control study in 346 subjects involving 173 cases with CRC and 173 controls. RESULTS: There was no statistically evidence of significant difference in genotype and allele frequencies between the cases with CRC and controls for the Gln223Arg polymorphism of LEPR, before or after adjusting for confounders (age, BMI, sex, and smoking status). Furthermore, no significant difference was observed between the CRC cases and controls by BMI, sex and smoking status. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the LEPR Gln223Arg polymorphism is not associated with the risk of CRC in Iranian population.