Abstract
Obesity has become a public health problem worldwide. Compared with Europe, people in Asia tend to suffer from type 2 diabetes with a lower body mass index (BMI). Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified over 750 loci associated with obesity. Although the majority of GWAS results were conducted in individuals of European ancestry, a recent GWAS in individuals of Asian ancestry has made a significant contribution to the identification of obesity susceptibility loci. Indeed, owing to the multifactorial character of obesity with a strong environmental component, the revealed loci may have distinct contributions in different ancestral genetic backgrounds and in different environments as presented through diet and exercise among other factors. Uncovering novel, yet unrevealed genes in non-European ancestries may further contribute to explaining the missing heritability for BMI. In this review, we aimed to summarize recent advances in obesity genetics in individuals of Asian ancestry. We therefore compared proposed mechanisms underlying susceptibility loci for obesity associated with individuals of European and Asian ancestries and discussed whether known genetic variants might explain ethnic differences in obesity risk. We further acknowledged that GWAS implemented in individuals of Asian ancestries have not only validated the potential role of previously specified obesity susceptibility loci but also exposed novel ones, which have been missed in the initial genetic studies in individuals of European ancestries. Thus, multi-ethnic studies have a great potential not only to contribute to a better understanding of the complex etiology of human obesity but also potentially of ethnic differences in the prevalence of obesity, which may ultimately pave new avenues in more targeted and personalized obesity treatments.
Highlights
Obesity has become a public health problem throughout the world, whether in developing or developed countries (Ng et al, 2014), and is well recognized as a risk factor for a wide variety of health problems such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases (Van Gaal et al, 2006)
Body mass index (BMI) is a standard measure of obesity, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) reflecting central body fat distribution is the main predictor of obesity-related metabolic sequelae such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) or cardiovascular diseases (Manolopoulos et al, 2010)
This review focuses on East Asian populations, no ancestry region can be considered in isolation in terms of human population history because migrations between Asians and Europeans have had a substantial impact on current genetic structure
Summary
Obesity has become a public health problem throughout the world, whether in developing or developed countries (Ng et al, 2014), and is well recognized as a risk factor for a wide variety of health problems such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases (Van Gaal et al, 2006). Data from white male twins (Stunkard, 1986), Quebec inhabitants (Bouchard et al, 1990), French family (Pérusse et al, 1996), and Danish adoption studies (Stunkard et al, 1986) showed that obesity and fat distribution have a strong genetic susceptibility, with heritability estimates ranging from 40 to 70% for obesity risk and from. Body mass index (BMI) is a standard measure of obesity, WHR reflecting central body fat distribution is the main predictor of obesity-related metabolic sequelae such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) or cardiovascular diseases (Manolopoulos et al, 2010). Being aware of the significant health burden associated with obesity, a better understanding of its complex pathophysiology including the genetic component remains a major challenge of the current obesity research
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