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The Asn363Ser variant of the glucocorticoid receptor gene is not associated with obesity or weight gain in Danish men

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Testing association of the Asn363Ser variant of the glucocorticoid gene with measures of obesity and weight gain.

SUBJECTS: 741 obese subjects (BMI≥31 kg/m2 at selection) and 854 random control subjects from the same population, examined at draft board examination and after on average 27.4± y. A lean control group (n=351) was further selected as the fraction from the cohort group having a BMI below 25.0 kg/m2 at the latest examination.

METHODS: Using PCR-RFLP subjects were genotyped for the Asn363Ser variant and grouped according to genotype.

RESULTS: The prevalence of the Ser363 allele was 4.7% (95% Cl: 3.3–6.2%) among the obese, 4.1% (2.7–5.5%) among the random cohort subjects and 4.3% (2.1–6.5%) among lean control subjects, respectively, showing no significant differences between the groups (P>0.1). Furthermore, no differences in BMI, waist-hip ratio or weight gain were seen within any of the groups when defined according to the glucocorticoid receptor genotype.

CONCLUSION: In the examined population this marker is not a relevant predictor of obesity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Helle Fjordvang for excellent technical assistance. The project was funded by the Danish Heart Foundation, the Danish Medical Research Council (9902592), the Danish National Research Foundation and the Velux Foundation.

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Correspondence to SM Echwald.

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Echwald, S., Sørensen, T., Andersen, T. et al. The Asn363Ser variant of the glucocorticoid receptor gene is not associated with obesity or weight gain in Danish men. Int J Obes 25, 1563–1565 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801744

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