Genetic Variants in the ADIPOQ Gene and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: A Case-Control Study of a Chinese Han population

Summary Our aim was to investigate whether the ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms are associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Genotypes of MetS patients (n= 1049) and normal controls (n= 1092) were analysed by TaqMan® assay, and serum adiponectin concentration was measured by ELISA. The variant genotypes rs266729CG; rs1063539GC, GC/CC; rs16861205AA and rs7649121AT, AT/TT (Adjusted P= 0.037, 0.044, 0.025, 0.011, 0.019, 0.020, respectively) of the ADIPOQ gene were associated with MetS. Patients with rs266729CG, CG/GG genotypes (P= 0.034, 0.035) and rs7649121AT, AT/TT genotypes (P= 0.013, 0.022) had higher levels of serum adiponectin than those with the CC and AA genotypes respectively. Furthermore, the prevalence of haplotypes GGAAAATC and GGGTAACC was lower in cases (10.7% and 4.5%) than in controls (12.1% and 5.9%) [Adjusted ORs (95% CIs) = 0.70 (0.54–0.91), 0.65 (0.46–0.92)]. The ADIPOQ gene variants associated with the risk of MetS in this study must be validated by further functional studies to reveal any potential effects on metabolism.