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Review
. 2012 Jun 26;1(3):184-196.
doi: 10.1007/s13668-012-0022-2. eCollection 2012.

Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Obesity

Jana V van Vliet-Ostaptchouk  1 , Harold Snieder  2 , Vasiliki Lagou  3
Affiliations
Review

Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Obesity

Jana V van Vliet-Ostaptchouk et al. Curr Nutr Rep. .

Abstract

Obesity is a complex multifaceted disease resulting from interactions between genetics and lifestyle. The proportion of phenotypic variance ascribed to genetic variance is 0.4 to 0.7 for obesity and recent years have seen considerable success in identifying disease-susceptibility variants. Although with the advent of genome-wide association studies the list of genetic variants predisposing to obesity has significantly increased the identified variants only explain a fraction of disease heritability. Studies of gene-environment interactions can provide more insight into the biological mechanisms involved in obesity despite the challenges associated with such designs. Epigenetic changes that affect gene function without DNA sequence modifications may be a key factor explaining interindividual differences in obesity, with both genetic and environmental factors influencing the epigenome. Disentangling the relative contributions of genetic, environmental and epigenetic marks to the establishment of obesity is a major challenge given the complex interplay between these determinants.

Keywords: Environment; Epigenetics; Epigenome; Genetics; Gene–environment interaction; Lifestyle; Obesity.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A model of the interplay between environmental/genetic factors and epigenetic changes in the establishment of obesity. Genes, environment, and epigenetic marks can directly lead to increased adiposity. Genes and environment can interact through their influence on the epigenome. Although epigenetic changes may cause obesity, it is often not really clear if they precede obesity, or vice versa
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