Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

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 upto 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P <5 x 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 similar to 2.7% of BMI variation, and genome-wide estimates suggest that common variation accounts for >20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses…

• UD
  Université de Lille

  Award: F-59000
• EG
  European Genomic Institute for Diabetes
• IC
  Imperial College London
• CN
  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
• HD
  Högskolan Dalarna
• HZ
  Helmholtz Zentrum München
• NC
  National Cancer Institute