Introduction.

Obesity is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. Genetic factors are involved in the formation of obesity and one of the candidate genes for obesity are genes associated with the age of menarche. It is believed that women with early menarche have a higher risk of developing obesity and polymorphisms associated with early menarche may also be risky for the obesity development.

The aim of the study: To study the association of the menarche-correlated rs555621 FSHB gene with the obesity in women.

Materials and Methods. The DNA samples of 171 women served as material for the study. Genotyping of the rs555621 FSHB gene was carried out. For each woman, the body mass index was calculated and the age of menarche was estimated.

Results. Among women with obesity the frequencies of the A allele and AA genotype of the rs555621 were 1,32 times (OR=2.04 95% CI 1.19-3.51 p=0.009) and 2.01 times (OR=3.03 95% CI 1.41-6.53 p=0.004) respectively higher than in women without obesity. The G allele rs555621 was associated with the obesity in the additive (OR=0.51 95%CI 0.29-0.89, p_perm=0.02) and dominant (OR=0.38 95%CI 0.18-0.79, p_perm=0.009) models. It was found that in women with obesity, menarche occurs 0.7 years earlier than in women without obesity (p<0.001). The rs555621 FSHB was associated with the age of menarche: earlier menarche was observed in women with the AA genotype (12.57 years), and later menarche was detected in women with the GG genotype (13.00 years, p<0,001).

Conclusions. Thus, it was found that the AA genotype of the rs555621 FSHB was associated with early menarche and was associated with an increased risk of obesity.