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.

To identify genetic loci influencing central obesity and fat distribution, we performed a meta-analysis of 16 genome-wide association studies (GWAS, N = 38,580) informative for adult waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). We selected 26 SNPs for follow-up, for which the evidence of association with measures of central adiposity (WC and/or WHR) was strong and disproportionate to that for overall adiposity or height. Follow-up studies in a maximum of 70,689 individuals identified two loci strongly associated with measures of central adiposity; these map near TFAP2B (WC, P = 1.9x10(-11)) and MSRA (WC, P = 8.9x10(-9)). A third locus, near LYPLAL1, was associated with WHR in women only (P = 2.6x10(-8)). The variants near TFAP2B appear to influence central adiposity through an effect on overall obesity/fat-mass, whereas LYPLAL1 displays a strong female-only association with fat distribution. By focusing on anthropometric measures of central obesity and fat distribution, we have identified three loci implicated in the regulation of human adiposity.

Original publication

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgen.1000508

Type

Journal article

Journal

PLoS genetics

Publication Date

26/06/2009

Volume

5

Addresses

Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, , Oxford, United Kingdom.

Keywords

Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, Procardis Consortia, Giant Consortium, Humans, Obesity, Lysophospholipase, Oxidoreductases, Waist-Hip Ratio, Cohort Studies, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Adult, Female, Male, Adiposity, Body Fat Distribution, Transcription Factor AP-2, Waist Circumference, Genome-Wide Association Study, Methionine Sulfoxide Reductases