New Gene Mutations Linked To Obesity, Metabolism
Posted on: Monday, 15 December 2008, 09:25 CST
Researchers have recognized six gene mutations connected to obesity and announced on Sunday they indicate how the brain and nervous system manage eating and metabolism.
"Today's findings are a major step forward in understanding how the human body regulates weight," said Dr. Alan Guttmacher, Acting director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
"This study essentially doubles in one fell swoop the number of known and replicated genetic factors contributing to obesity as a public health problem," added Dr. Kari Stefansson, Chief Executive Officer of deCODE Genetics of Iceland and a lead researcher.
The team examined 300,000 one-letter mutations in the genetic code called the single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs in 30,000 citizens from Iceland, the Netherlands and the United States.
They verified their discoveries in 40,000 additional individuals from Denmark and the United states.
They established that the variations in six genes, TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2 and NEGR1, were greatly connected with body mass index, or BMI.
"Today's findings are a major step forward in understanding how the human body regulates weight," said Guttmacher.
"One of the most notable aspects of these discoveries is that most of these new risk factors are near genes that regulate processes in the brain," added Stefansson.
"This suggests that as we work to develop better means of combating obesity, including using these discoveries as the first step in developing new drugs, we need to focus on the regulation of appetite at least as much as on the metabolic factors of how the body uses and stores energy," Stefansson noted.
"These new variants may point to valuable new drug targets," he added.
About a third of U.S. adults are labeled obese with a BMI of 30 or greater. Obesity is linked with 100,000 fatalities annually in the U.S., and these trends are comparable in other countries.
"We know that environmental factors, such as diet, play a role in obesity, but this research further provides evidence that genetic variation plays a significant role in an individual's predisposition to obesity," said the genome institute's Dr. Eric Green.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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