Eating behavior and allelic variants of the leptin receptor gene in patients with type 2 diabetes: single center cross-sectional study

Abstract

   Aim. The aim of this study was to analyze eating behavior and leptin receptor (LEPR) gene in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).   Materials and methods. 83 patients with T2D (62 women, 21 men) aged 59.0 ± 9.9 years and 134 people without clinical and laboratory signs of diabetes mellitus (105 women, 29 men) aged 55.0 ± 10.2 years were examined. Bulimia nervosa was excluded in all the patients. Eating behavior was assessed using Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, V.A. Losenkov’sImpulsivity Questionnaire. Genotyping of the LEPR gene rs1137100 marker was performed using polymerase chain reaction. The Mann-Whitney U-test and Pearson chi-square were used to compare the values of the variables; ROC-analysis was performed.   Results. The emotional eating was more pronounced in T2D group (4.9 (4.1; 5.2) vs 3.1 (2.8; 3.8), p < 0.0001), but the restrained (2.8 (2.6; 3.6) vs 3.3 (2.6; 4.2), p < 0.0001) and external eating was less pronounced (3.3 (3.0; 3.8) vs 3.8 (3.3; 4.4), p < 0.0001), T2D patients were also less impulsive (47 (38; 66) vs 61 (54.5; 70), p < 0.0001). These differences for emotional eating are confirmed in both subgroup of excess body weight and in subgroups of all degrees of obesity. The best predictive model of T2D was obtained for emotional eating with a cut-off point 4.1 scores: sensitivity 74.7 %, specificity 79.1 %, AUROC = 0.777; 95 % confidence interval: 0.715–0.830, p < 0.0001. The distribution of genotypes by the polymorphic marker rs1137100 of the LEPR gene was similar in both groups. Restrictive eating was lower in patients with GG genotype compared to AA and GA (1.77 ± 0.52 vs 2.94 ± 0.08, p < 0.01).   Conclusion. Рatients with T2D are characterized by emotional eating behavior. The association of the polymorphic locus rs1137100 of the LEPR gene with restrained eating behavior in T2D suggests the presence of genetic factors for the formation of eating patterns.