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
Review
. 2016 Oct;31(4):361-71.
doi: 10.1007/s12291-015-0541-x. Epub 2015 Dec 21.

Genetics of Obesity

Apurva Srivastava  1 , Neena Srivastava  2 , Balraj Mittal  3
Affiliations
Review

Genetics of Obesity

Apurva Srivastava et al. Indian J Clin Biochem. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

Numerous classical genetic studies have proved that genes are contributory factors for obesity. Genes are directly responsible for obesity associated disorders such as Bardet-Biedl and Prader-Willi syndromes. However, both genes as well as environment are associated with obesity in the general population. Genetic epidemiological approaches, particularly genome-wide association studies, have unraveled many genes which play important roles in human obesity. Elucidation of their biological functions can be very useful for understanding pathobiology of obesity. In the near future, further exploration of obesity genetics may help to develop useful diagnostic and predictive tests for obesity treatment.

Keywords: BMI; Epidemiology; GWAS; Genetics; Obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Obesity and gene environment interactions. The figure above shows the diagrammatic representation of gene and environment interactions leading to obesity
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic representation of GWAS methodology. The figure above represents the basic methodology behind the GWAS. The DNA samples bind to a micro array chip which is a collection of millions of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. Each DNA spot contains picomoles of a specific DNA sequence, known as probes (or reporters or oligos). These can be a short section of a gene or other DNA element that are used to hybridize a cDNA sample (called target) under high-stringency conditions. Probe-target hybridization is usually detected and quantified by detection of fluorophore-, silver-, or chemiluminescence-labeled targets to determine relative abundance of nucleic acid sequences in the target. This genotype data is statistically analyzed and is evaluated for its association with some specific disease or trait. This disease associated SNPs are then classified for their candidate gene identification
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Genomic organization of FTO regions in high LD to its neighboring gene IRX3. Genomic organization of FTO regions in high LD to its neighboring gene IRX3, FTO variants rs8050136, rs1421085, rs9939609, and rs17817449 are believed to act as long range enhancers for genes like IRX3 contributing to obesity phenotype
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Haslam DW, James WP. Obesity. Lancet. 2005;366(9492):1197–1209. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67483-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Deurenberg-Yap M, Schmidt G, van Staveren WA, Deurenberg P. The paradox of low body mass index and high body fat percentage among Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000;24:1011–1017. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801353. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pan WH, Flegal KM, Chang HY, Yeh WT, Yeh CJ, Lee WC. Body mass index and obesity-related metabolic disorders in Taiwanese and US whites and blacks: implications for definitions of overweight and obesity for Asians. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79:31–39. - PubMed
    1. WHO expert consultation. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. The Lancet, 2004; 157-163. - PubMed
    1. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241501491_eng.pdf.

LinkOut - more resources