Abstract: To investigate the IRX3 gene expression levels and the 5'UTR methylation rate in food-induced obese mice abdominal adipose, male obese C57BL/6J mice model was induced by feeding high-fat diet, RT-qPCR was used to detect the IRX3 expression levels and BSP was used to detect the 5'UTR methylation status. Results showed that Obese mice model was established successfully. Expression levels in obese mice were higher than normal controls（P<0.01）. The 5'UTR methylation rate had no significant difference in the two groups of mice, but the methylation rate in 2 loci（-128 bp and -116 bp） and 1 locus （-182 bp） were 62.5%, 62.5% and 75.0% respectively, all higher than other loci significantly. The IRX3 mRNA expression is up-regulated in food-induced obese mice. The IRX3 mRNA expression levels has nothing to do with it’s 5'UTR methylation rate. The methylation in 3 specific loci may be associated with obesity.

Key words: food-induced obesity, IRX3 gene, relative expression, 5'UTR, methylation