Background: Genome-wide association studies on Europeans have shown that two polymorphisms (rs17782313, rs12970134) near the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) gene were associated with increased risk of obesity. Subsequently studies among different ethnic populations have shown mixed results with some confirming and others showing inconsistent results, especially among East Asians and Africans. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of various studies from different ethnic populations to assess the association of the MC4R polymorphism with obesity risk.
Methods: We retrieved all published literature that investigated association of MC4R variants with obesity from PubMed and Embase. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed- or random-effects model.
Results: A total of 61 studies (80,957 cases/220,223 controls) for rs17782313 polymorphism (or proxy) were included in the meta-analysis. The results suggested that rs17782313 polymorphism was significantly associated with obesity risk (OR=1.18, 95%CI=1.15-1.21, p<0.001). Similar trends were observed among subgroups of Europeans and East Asians, adults and children, studies with high quality score, and for each five MC4R polymorphisms independently.
Conclusions: The present meta-analysis confirms the significant association of MC4R polymorphism with risk of obesity. Further studies should be conducted to identify the causal variant and the underlying mechanisms of the identified association.