Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Few studies have examined the association between genetic variants of the estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) and obesity in postmenopausal women. METHODS: The relationship of three polymorphisms (rs1271572, rs1256049 and rs4986938) and their associated haplotypes in the ESR2 gene with obesity and overweight were evaluated in 561 apparently healthy women (median age 63 years) from the Women's Health Study. Most of the women were postmenopausal (99.1%). The associations between genotypes and haplotypes with obesity (BMI> or =30kg/m(2)) and overweight (BMI> or =25kg/m(2)) were evaluated by logistic regression, assuming an additive model. RESULTS: No association was observed for any of the three polymorphisms with BMI, overweight or obesity. In haplotype analyses, one haplotype (major allele for all polymorphisms) was associated with a borderline inverse association with overweight but not obesity (OR=0.62, 95% CI=0.39-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: An inverse and borderline significant association was found between the ESR2 G-G-G haplotype and overweight in postmenopausal women. Further investigation regarding the association between ESR2 and adiposity should be performed to confirm these findings.