Single-nucleotide polymorphism rs11562975 of the thermosensitive ion channel TRPM8 gene and human sensitivity to cold and menthol

Abstract

The examination of subjects from the Russian ethnic group revealed that 20.3% of them had the heterozygous genotype containing the C-allele in the rs11562975 (G → C) single-nucleotide polymorphism located in exon 7 of the gene encoding the temperature-sensitive ion channel TRPM8. Functional differences associated with the sensitivity to cold and menthol were revealed in subjects with different rs11562975 polymorphism genotypes (GG and GC). The subjects with the heterozygous genotype GC were characterized by increased sensitivity to cold and decreased sensitivity to menthol, an agonist of the ion channel TRPM8, compared to the subjects with the homozygous genotype GG