Screening for melanocortin-4 receptor mutations in a cohort of Belgian morbidly obese adults and children

Objective: To investigate whether pathogenic melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) mutations are a common cause of obesity in Belgium. Design: Cross-sectional mutation analysis. Subjects: In total, 95 morbidly obese adults (mean age 44.02 +/- 11.35 years; mean BMI 47.87 +/- 4.17 kg/m(2)) and 123 obese children and adolescents were screened for mutations in MC4R (mean age 16.56 +/- 2.58 years; BMI > 95th percentile for age and sex; mean % overweight 170.86 +/- 23.63). Measurements: A series of anthropometric (e.g. weight, height, waist, hip), biochemical and clinical measurements were performed on all subjects. The entire coding region of MC4R was screened using DHPLC, a highly sensitive and specific method for mutation analysis. Direct sequencing was performed when the chromatogram deviated from the WT pattern. Results: Mutation screening of a cohort of Belgian obese adults and children did not detect any pathogenic mutations as only the previously described polymorphisms Val103Ile, Thr112Met and Ile251Leu were detected. Conclusion: Pathogenic mutations in MC4R are not a common cause of obesity in a Belgian population of obese adults, children and adolescents.