Association of KIR2DL4 gene polymorphisms with obesity

Obesity is one of the most important health problem which threatening public health and spreading rapidly. Obesity results from the excessive amount of fat accumulation in the body. The relationship between obesity and function of immune system was shown by previous studies. KIR genes encode receptors regulating cytotoxicity of Natural Killer cells and cytokine manufacturing. The KIR2DL4 gene is an atypical member of the KIR gene family; it differs from the other members in term of cellular location, ligand specificity and protein function. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between KIR2DL4 polymorphisms and obesity. Fifty obese patients (BMI >30) and 50 normal weight (BMI< 30) control subjects participated to the study. Blood samples were collected from the subjects, and after DNA isolation PCR- RFLP method was used for genotyping of polymorphisms. Allele and genotype frequencies were calculated by direct counting and genotype distributions in the groups were compared by chi-square analysis. Results of the study indicated that there is no statistically significant association between obesity and rs649216, rs660773 polymorphisms (p >0.05), however rs660437 C allele might be a risk factor for development of obesity (p =0.004).