Table 2.

Average methylation levels of POMC, MC4R, and HNF4A in normal weight children and overweight and obese children

CpG methylation+	Normal weight children (n = 79)	Overweight and obese children (n = 41)
	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	p
POMC
POMC–CpG1a	57.07 ± 9.75	54.90 ± 8.10	< 0.001
POMC–CpG2a	50.30 ± 9.58	49.07 ± 7.41	<  0.001
POMC–CpG3a	51.71 ± 10.25	50.42 ± 7.46	0.002
POMC–CpG4a	50.83 ± 9.15	49.20 ± 7.05	<  0.001
MC4R
MC4R–CpG1	95.19 ± 3.00	95.49 ± 2.51	0.02
MC4R–CpG2	91.03 ± 1.33	91.05 ± 1.61	<  0.001
MC4R–CpG3a	83.20 ± 1.71	83.18 ± 1.31	0.01
HNF4A–P1
HNF4A–CpG1	91.62 ± 4.68	91.73 ± 3.74	<  0.001
HNF4A–CpG2a	80.64 ± 6.30	80.53 ± 4.25	0.01
HNF4A–CpG3a	85.83 ± 2.96	85.32 ± 2.37	0.001
HNF4A–CpG4a	86.24 ± 2.79	85.18 ± 2.99	0.02
HNF4A–P2
HNF4A–CpG1	96.93 ± 1.07	97.55 ± 0.91	0.01
HNF4A–CpG3	94.79 ± 1.28	95.40 ± 1.05	0.03
HNF4A–CpG4a	91.44 ± 1.84	91.29 ± 1.80	0.05

⁺P values were calculated using ANCOVA adjusting for age

^aindicate lower methylation

POMC proopiomelanocortin, MC4R melanocortin 4 receptor, HNF4A hepatocyte nuclear 4 alpha, P promoter region