The relation of Dopamine Receptor-2 (DRD2) gene polymorphisms with obesity

Obesity is described that excessive fat deposition in the body. While the precise mechanism of obesity is unclear, there are strong evidences that the social, cultural, psychological, metabolic and genetic factors play important roles in the mechanism. When the effects on the brain reward and reinforcement mechanisms were taken into consideration, doparminergic system have been pointed out as an important genetic candidate for revealing the tendency in obesity. In this study, dopamine receptor-2 (DRD2) gene, Taq IA and Taq IB polymorphisms investigated the possible relationship between risk of developing obesity disease. DNA samples were purified from venous leukocytes of 140 obese patients and 110 controls subject. These polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. A significant association was found between DRD2 Taq1A gene polymorphism and the risk of developing obesity disease. However, there was no significant association between DRD2 Taq 1B gene polymorphism and the risk of developing obesity disease.Our findings show that DRD2 Taq1A polymorphism may be associated with the tendency to obesity, but did not reveal the relationship between polymorphism DRD2 Taq 1B. Further clinical studies need to be done to confirm and further evaluate these findings.Key Words: Obesity, Dopamine, Dopamine Receptor Gene, Polymorphism