Sex/Gender Modifies the Association Between the MC4R p.Ile269Asn Mutation and Type 2 Diabetes in the Mexican Population

• Published in: The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism 2021-01, Vol.106 (1), p.e112-e117
• Main Authors: Vázquez-Moreno, Miguel, Locia-Morales, Daniel, Valladares-Salgado, Adan, Sharma, Tanmay, Wacher-Rodarte, Niels, Cruz, Miguel, Meyre, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Body mass index; Body weight; Dextrose; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes therapy; Gender; Genetic aspects; Glucose; Glucose tolerance; Melanocortin; Melanocortin MC4 receptors; Mutation; Population studies; Type 2 diabetes
• ISSN: 0021-972X; 1945-7197
• DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa726

Abstract Context Studies in mice and humans suggest that melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) deficiency affects body weight in a sex-/gender-dependent manner. However, similar evidence for type 2 diabetes (T2D) is scarce. Objective and Design We investigated whether sex/gender modifies the association between the loss-of-function MC4R p.Ile269Asn mutation and T2D in 6929 Mexican adults (3175 T2D cases and 3754 normal glucose tolerance [NGT] controls). The 2003 American Diabetes Association criteria were used to define NGT and T2D. The MC4R p.Ile269Asn mutation was genotyped in all participants using TaqMan technology. Results The MC4R p.Ile269Asn mutation was associated with T2D in 6929 Mexican adults (Ncontrols = 3754, Ncases = 3175, odds ratio [OR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35-2.97; P = 5.7 × 10-4). The MC4R p.Ile269Asn mutation had a frequency of 0.86 and 1.05% in women with NGT and T2D, and 0.78 and 1.32% in men with NGT and T2D, respectively. We identified a significant interaction between the MC4R p.Ile269Asn mutation and sex/gender on T2D risk (P = 0.049). Although a strong association between the mutation and T2D was observed in men (Ncontrols = 2418, Ncases = 1807, OR = 2.63, 95% CI, 1.62-4.28, P = 9.3 × 10-5), results were not significant in women (Ncontrols = 1336, Ncases = 1368, OR = 1.16, 95% CI, 0.60-2.26, P = 0.65). Further adjustment for body mass index in the logistic regression model did not alter the sex-/gender-specific pattern of association (men: OR = 2.22, 95% CI, 1.34-3.67, P = 0.0019; women: OR = 1.02, 95% CI, 0.51-2.02, P = 0.95). Conclusion This is the first report of a male-specific association between the MC4R p.Ile269Asn loss-of-function mutation and T2D in the Mexican population.