Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar 11;1(3):31.
doi: 10.1186/gm31.

Narrowing down the role of common variants in the genetic predisposition to obesity

Melissa A Calton  1 , Christian Vaisse
Affiliations

Narrowing down the role of common variants in the genetic predisposition to obesity

Melissa A Calton et al. Genome Med. .

Abstract

The extent to which common variants contribute to common phenotypes and disease in humans has important consequences for the future of medical genomics. Two reports have recently clarified this issue for one of the most pressing public health concerns, obesity. These large and comprehensive genome-wide association studies find that common variants within at least 11 genes are associated with obesity. Interestingly, most of these genes are highly expressed in the central nervous system, further highlighting its role in the pathogenesis of obesity. However, the individual and combined effects of these variants explain only a small fraction of the inherited variability in obesity, suggesting that rare variants may contribute significantly to the genetic predisposition for this condition.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Brown DS, Allaire BT, Dellea PS, Kamal-Bahl SJ. The lifetime medical cost burden of overweight and obesity: implications for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2008;16:1843–1848. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.290. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, Gail MH. Cause-specific excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA. 2007;298:2028–2037. doi: 10.1001/jama.298.17.2028. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, Flegal KM. Obesity Among Adults in the United States - No Change Since 2003-2004. NCHS Data Brief no 1. Hyattsville: National Center for Health Statistics; 2007. - PubMed
    1. Hill JO. Genetic and environmental contributions to obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;68:991–992. - PubMed
    1. Allison DB, Kaprio J, Korkeila M, Koskenvuo M, Neale MC, Hayakawa K. The heritability of body mass index among an international sample of monozygotic twins reared apart. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1996;20:501–506. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources