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
. 2019 Jul 27;20(15):3690.
doi: 10.3390/ijms20153690.

Gene-Environment Interactions on Body Fat Distribution

Xiang Li  1 , Lu Qi  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Gene-Environment Interactions on Body Fat Distribution

Xiang Li et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has been increasing markedly in the U.S. and worldwide in the past decades; and notably, the obese populations are signified by not only the overall elevated adiposity but also particularly harmful accumulation of body fat in the central region of the body, namely, abdominal obesity. The profound shift from "traditional" to "obesogenic" environments, principally featured by the abundance of palatable, energy-dense diet, reduced physical activity, and prolonged sedentary time, promotes the obesity epidemics and detrimental body fat distribution. Recent advances in genomics studies shed light on the genetic basis of obesity and body fat distribution. In addition, growing evidence from investigations in large cohorts and clinical trials has lent support to interactions between genetic variations and environmental factors, e.g., diet and lifestyle factors, in relation to obesity and body fat distribution. This review summarizes the recent discoveries from observational studies and randomized clinical trials on the gene-environment interactions on obesity and body fat distribution.

Keywords: body fat distribution; gene–environment interaction; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sexual dimorphism in genetically determined body fat distribution and related pathways. This figure shows selected GWAS-identified genes and pathways displaying sexual dimorphism in relation to body fat distribution. The genes and pathways included are incomplete, only for illustration purpose.
Figure 2
Figure 2
GWAS of body fat distribution assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index. This figure shows the coding variants identified from the most recent GWAS of body fat distribution. Manhattan plot of the all ancestry, sexes-combined, single variant, additive model analysis. The figure was modified with permission from [39]; published by Springer Nature, 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ogden C.L., Carroll M.D., Fryar C.D., Flegal K.M. Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults and Youth: United States, 2011-2014. Nchs Data Brief. 2015:1–8. - PubMed
    1. Zwicker L., Brownell K.D., Swinburn B., Ashe M., Cawley J.H., Roberto C.A., Huang T.T.-K., Costa S.A., Hawkes C. Patchy progress on obesity prevention: Emerging examples, entrenched barriers, and new thinking. Lancet. 2015;385:2400–2409. - PubMed
    1. Afshin A., Forouzanfar M.H., Reitsma M.B., Sur P., Estep K., Lee A., Marczak L., Mokdad A.H., Moradi-Lakeh M., Naghavi M., et al. Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years. N. Engl. J. Med. 2017;377:13–27. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fryar C.D., Kruszon-Moran D., Gu Q O.C. Mean Body Weight, Height, Waist Circumference, and Body Mass Index Among Adults: United States, 1999–2000 Through 2015–2016. Technical Report for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Hyattsville, MD, USA: Dec, 2018.
    1. Deng T., Lyon C.J., Bergin S., Caligiuri M.A., Hsueh W.A. Obesity, inflammation, and cancer. Annu. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis. 2016;11:421–449. doi: 10.1146/annurev-pathol-012615-044359. - DOI - PubMed