IGF2 Gene Variants and Risk of Hypertension in Obese Children and Adolescents

• Published in: Pediatric research Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 340 - 344
• Main Authors: Faienza, Maria F, Santoro, Nicola, Lauciello, Rosaria, Calabrò, Raffaele, Giordani, Lucia, Di Salvo, Giovanni, Ventura, Annamaria, Delvecchio, Maurizio, Perrone, Laura, Del Giudice, Emanuele M, Cavallo, Luciano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.04.2010; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Subjects: Adolescent; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; basic-science-investigation; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Cardiology. Vascular system; Child; Cohort Studies; Energy Metabolism - physiology; General aspects; Humans; Hypertension - etiology; Hypertension - genetics; Insulin-Like Growth Factor II - genetics; Italy; Logistic Models; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic diseases; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - genetics; Pediatric Surgery; Pediatrics; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Risk Factors; Italy; Human; Hypertension; Obesity; Pediatrics; Genetic variant; Nutrition disorder; Cardiovascular disease; Genetic determinism; Insulin like growth factor 2; Adolescent; Risk factor; Genetics; Child; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0031-3998; 1530-0447
• DOI: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181d22757

Obese children have a great risk of hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity in adults. The insulin-like growth factor type II (IGF-II) regulates glucose homeostasis, cardiovascular functions, and lipid metabolism. IGF2 gene variants have shown a strong association with weight, body mass index (BMI), and metabolic profile in adults. We performed the molecular screening of two IGF2 polymorphisms (6815 A/T, 820 G/A), in 227 obese children to evaluate the potential association between IGF2 variants with either obesity or high blood pressure (assessed with a 24-h holter system) or both. A second cohort of age-, sex-, and BMI-matched children were enrolled to confirm any eventual association. We observed a significant association between the 6815 A/T IGF2 gene variant and high systolic blood pressure in obese children. Homozygote subjects for the T6815 allele showed, even in 24-h measurements, a higher risk to develop hypertension than those carrying the A6815 allele (OR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.59–8.66). This result was confirmed in the second cohort (OR = 4.1, 95% CI: 1.41–6.50). Any statistically significant difference in terms of BMI between the genotype groups was observed. Our results suggest that IGF2 gene variants are involved in the blood pressure regulation in obese children.