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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 up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P 20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/nature14177

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature

Publication Date

02/2015

Volume

518

Pages

197 - 206

Addresses

Center for Statistical Genetics, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.

Keywords

LifeLines Cohort Study, ADIPOGen Consortium, AGEN-BMI Working Group, CARDIOGRAMplusC4D Consortium, CKDGen Consortium, GLGC, ICBP, MAGIC Investigators, MuTHER Consortium, MIGen Consortium, PAGE Consortium, ReproGen Consortium, GENIE Consortium, International Endogene Consortium, Synapses, Humans, Obesity, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Insulin, Glutamic Acid, Body Mass Index, Age Factors, Energy Metabolism, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Europe, Female, Male, Adiposity, Adipogenesis, Genome-Wide Association Study, Insulin Secretion, Racial Groups