The Association Between GC Gene Polymorphisms and Metabolic Syndrome in Chinese Rural Population: A Case-Control Study

Tong Zhao; Dongdong Zhang; Yiming Liu; Mingming Feng; Ze Xu; Haoyue Huang; Luoya Zhang; Wenjie Li; Xing Li

doi:10.2147/DMSO.S346528

The Association Between GC Gene Polymorphisms and Metabolic Syndrome in Chinese Rural Population: A Case-Control Study

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2022 Jan 14:15:165-174. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S346528. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Tong Zhao¹, Dongdong Zhang¹, Yiming Liu¹, Mingming Feng¹, Ze Xu¹, Haoyue Huang¹, Luoya Zhang¹, Wenjie Li¹, Xing Li¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, Henan, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Background: GC (group-specific component globulin) encoding VDBP (Vitamin D binding protein) polymorphisms have been associated with susceptibility to some diseases such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome, but the evidence for metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Chinese rural population is inconclusive. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between GC variants (rs7041, rs4588, rs2282679, and rs705117) and MetS risk as well as VDBP levels in the Chinese rural population.

Patients and methods: The participants (range of age: 20-90 years) of this case-control study were recruited from the northern Chinese Han rural population. We matched 445 MetS cases with non-MetS controls in a 1:1 ratio by sex, age (within 5 years). Real-time PCR technology was carried out by TaqMan assays to examine the four variants of rs7041, rs4588, rs2282679, and rs705117 within the GC gene. To identify the association of GC gene polymorphisms with MetS, we calculated ORs using a conditional logistic regression model adjusted for potential confounding factors.

Results: We observed inverse associations of CA and AA genotypes of rs4588 with risk of MetS (OR = 0.678, 95% CI 0.505-0.910, P = 0.010; 0.603, 95% CI 0.373-0.973, P = 0.039, respectively) compared with carriers of CC genotype. A similar relationship was also found between rs2282679 and MetS, showing that carrying AC genotype of rs2282679 can decrease the risk of MetS (OR = 0.683, 95% CI 0.509-0.917, P = 0.011) compared with carriers of AA genotype. The results of correlation analysis between MetS components and GC polymorphisms showed that the ORs of AA genotype of rs4588 with high level of TG (triglycerides) and low level of HDL-C (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) were 0.473 (95% CI 0.245-0.911, P = 0.025) and 0.268 (95% CI 0.117-0.615, P = 0.002), respectively; the ORs of CC genotype of rs2282679 with high level of TG and low level of HDL-C were 0.428 (95% CI 0.217-0.842, P = 0.014) and 0.263 (95% CI 0.110-0.628, P = 0.003), respectively. However, there was no significant association between the concentration of VDBP and MetS risk.

Conclusion: Among the Chinese rural population, GC polymorphism was associated with lower metabolic syndrome susceptibility, which might be through affecting blood lipid levels (TG and HDL-C).

Keywords: GC; metabolic syndrome; polymorphism; rural population.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 81872626 and 82003454), Chinese N utrition Society-Bright Moon Seaweed Group Nutrition and Health Research Fund (grant number CNS-BMSG2020A63), Chinese Nutrition Society-Zhendong National Physical Fitness and Health Research Fund (grant number CNS-ZD2019066), Key R&D and promotion projects in Henan Province (grant number 212102310219). All the funders had no role in the design, analysis, or writing of this article.