
School of Medicine Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-12-2015
Abstract
Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P < 5 × 10-8), 56 of which are novel. Five loci demonstrate clear evidence of several independent association signals, and many loci have significant effects on other metabolic phenotypes. The 97 loci account for ∼2.7% of BMI variation, and genome-wide estimates suggest that common variation accounts for >20 % of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.
Recommended Citation
Locke, A. E., Kahali, B., Berndt, S. I., Justice, A. E., Pers, T. H., Day, F. R., ... & Lindström, J. (2015). Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology. Nature, 518(7538), 197-206. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14177
First Page
197
Last Page
206
Publication Title
Nature
DOI
10.1038/nature14177
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Office of Human Genetics
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