Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Common variants at only two loci, FTO and MC4R, have been reproducibly associated with body mass index (BMI) in humans. To identify additional loci, we conducted meta-analysis of 15 genome-wide association studies for BMI (n > 32,000) and followed up top signals in 14 additional cohorts (n > 59,000). We strongly confirm FTO and MC4R and identify six additional loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)): TMEM18, KCTD15, GNPDA2, SH2B1, MTCH2 and NEGR1 (where a 45-kb deletion polymorphism is a candidate causal variant). Several of the likely causal genes are highly expressed or known to act in the central nervous system (CNS), emphasizing, as in rare monogenic forms of obesity, the role of the CNS in predisposition to obesity.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/ng.287

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nat genet

Publication Date

01/2009

Volume

41

Pages

25 - 34

Keywords

Alleles, Anthropometry, Body Mass Index, Body Weight, Central Nervous System, Cohort Studies, Gene Dosage, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Obesity, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Quantitative Trait, Heritable