Gender differences in the relationship of ENPP1/PC-1 variants to obesity in a Turkish population.

The ectoenzyme ENPP1 (also termed membrane glycoprotein PC-1 or ENPP1/PC-1) is an inhibitor of insulin-induced activation of the insulin receptor. There is evidence from previous studies that coding variants of ENPP1/PC-1 (K121Q) are associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. Studies in the general Turkish population have demonstrated: unique plasma lipid characteristics, a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, and an increased prevalence of obesity and T2D. We investigated, therefore, the association of ENPP1/PC-1 variants with obesity and T2D in Turkish individuals. The TaqMan allelic discrimination assay was used for genotyping the relationship of ENPP1/PC-1 variants to obesity and T2D in a genetic association study of 1,553 genotyped, randomly selected subjects from the Turkish Heart Study. The K121Q (rs1044498) variant and other previously reported variants (rs997509, rs1799774, rs1044548, rs11964389, rs7754561) were analyzed. In this cohort, the minor allele frequency (MAF) of the K121Q variant was associated with obesity in male, but not in female subjects (male, odds ratio 1.64, 95% confidence interval 1.004-2.698, P = 0.048; female, odds ratio 1.003, 95% confidence interval 0.684-1.471, P = ns). In addition, the previously reported ENPP1/PC-1 "risk haplotype" (Q (rs1044498), delT (rs1799774), and G (rs7754561) alleles) was found to be associated with obesity in male, but not in female, subjects (P = 0.035). In contrast, there was no association of either the K121Q variant or the ENPP1/PC-1 haplotype with T2D. We find evidence that variants of ENPP1/PC-1 are associated with obesity in the male Turkish population; thus, these variants may contribute to the development of the obesity in these individuals.