A polymorphism in the gene encoding CART is not associated with obesity in Pima Indians

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is a hypothalamic peptide that may be involved in the regulation of food intake. We screened the human CART gene and identified a novel C-->G substitution in the 3'-untranslated region of exon 3. This polymorphism was genotyped in a total of 68 Pima Indians with extremes of BMI. The frequencies for alleles C and G were 0.76 and 0.24, respectively. There was no evidence of an association between the genotype frequency at this variant and extremes of BMI in this group of Pima Indians. The results of this study do not suggest a significant role for this variant in exon 3 of CART as a determinant of obesity in Pima Indians.