Association of GCKR Gene Polymorphisms with Metabolic Syndrome in a Han Population from Northeast China

Background: As a serious public universal health issue, metabolic syndrome (MetS) has a high prevalence world-wide. Some studies illustrated that GCKR modulated insulin action and serum lipids are critical diagnostic criteria of MetS. The goal of this study is to investigate the association between GCKR polymorphisms with metabolic syn-drome (MetS) in a Han population from northeast China. Methods: Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, rs1260326, rs8179206, rs780094, and rs2293571) were ge-notyped in 3,754 participants. MetS was defined according to International Diabetes Federation criteria (2009). Genotype and allele frequency distributions were compared between two groups by chi-squared test. The associa-tions of the four SNPs under different genetic models with MetS were tested by multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, location, education, occupation alcohol consumption, and smoking. p-values of no more than 0.003125 [0.05/(4 SNPs*4 different genetic models)] after Bonferroni correction were considered statistically significant. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analysis were evaluated by the Haploview soft-ware (version 4.2) and SNPStats program. Results: Logistic regression analysis revealed that after Bonferroni correction, rs780094 was associated with MetS under the recessive model (p = 0.002). Weak LD was found for the four SNPs, and the CAGC haplotype appeared to be significantly decreased the risk of MetS (p = 0.026, OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79 -0.98). Conclusions: GCKR rs780094 was associated with MetS in northeast Han population, and haplotype CAGC gener-ated by rs1260326, rs8179206, rs780094, and rs2293571 may decrease the risk of the disease.