Absence of association between −286C>A>T polymorphism in the CRP gene and metabolic syndrome in Iranian pediatric

As a common pathophysiological condition worldwide, metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of multiple risk factors implicating in the development of many chronic disorders. Of note, obesity-induced chronic, low-grade inflammation is a major cause of insulin resistance and MetS. In the present study, we evaluated the association of rs3091244 variant of the C-reactive protein(CRP) gene, a well-recognized systemic inflammatory marker, with MetS in Iranian children and adolescents.

Genotyping was performed by mismatched polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 100 MetS and 100 normal individuals aged 9–19 years recruited in the central part of Iran in 2011. A t-test or one-way ANOVA with post-hoc multiple comparisons were used to analyze the differences between groups. Statistical significance was defined as P ≤ 0.05. Logistic regression used to evaluate the association between alleles of the CRP rs3091244 and increased MetS risk.

There were no differences in the genotype frequencies or allele distribution for −286C>A>T CRP polymorphism between MetS and control groups. Logistic regression showed that only the T allele of the CRP rs3091244 and not any of the genotypes confers a borderline significant (P = 0.059) increased MetS risk compared to A allele with the odds ratio of 1.70 (0.98–2.96).

This study suggests that in Iranian children and adolescents, −286C>A>T CRP polymorphism is not associated with the increased risk for MetS.