The genetics of obesity In humans

Abstract

This review describes the most recent findings on the genetic epidemiology of the causes of human excess body weight or obesity. The emphasis is on single-gone effects, as identified by a variety of approaches. Evidence from Mendelian disorders that have obesity as one of their features is considered. The reports on candidate genes and other molecular markers that have appeared recently are summarized. Four loci have been shown to be linked with body-mass index or body fat by the sib-pair analytical method, with P values loss than or equal to 0.004. These loci are ACP1 (2p25), TNF-α (6p21.3), KEL (7q33), and ADA (20q12–13.1). Replication studies are clearly desirable.