The GH receptor exon 3 deleted/full-length polymorphism is associated with central adiposity in the general population

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the growth hormone (GH) receptor (GHR) d3/fl polymorphism influences anthropometry and body composition in the general population. Design and Setting: The Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) reference study is a cross-sectional population-based study, randomly selected from a population registry. A sub-group of the population-based Malm\uf6 Diet and Cancer Study (MDC-CC) was used as a replication cohort. Methods: The SOS reference study comprises 1135 subjects (46.2% men), with an average age of 49.5 yrs. The MDC-CC includes 5451 successfully genotyped subjects (41.5% men), with an average age of 57.5 yrs. GHR d3/fl genotypes were determined using tagSNP rs6873545. Linear regression analyses were used to test for genotype - phenotype associations. Results: In the SOS reference study, subjects homozygous for the d3-GHR weighed approximately four kilos more (p=0.011), had larger waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, p=0.036), waist circumference (p=0.016) and more fat free mass estimated from total body potassium (TBK, p=0.026) than grouped fl/d3 and fl/fl subjects (d3-recessive genetic model). The association with WHR was replicated in the MDC-CC (p=0.002), but not those with other anthropometric traits. Conclusions: In this population-based study the GHR d3/fl polymorphism was found to be of functional relevance and associated with central adiposity, such that subjects homozygous for the d3-GHR showed an increased abdominal obesity