Genetic Determinants of Obesity: Confirmation of Findings from Genome-Wide Association Study of Abdominal Adiposity
Principal investigator: Cuilin Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.
Abdominal obesity is a principle component of metabolic syndrome. Independent of overall body adiposity, greater abdominal adiposity is strongly associated with adverse metabolic profiles, such as systematic inflammation, insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. Although it is correlated with overall adiposity, strong evidence indicates that abdominal adiposity is likely to have its own genetic architecture. Recent development of genotyping-technology and analytical methods made it possible to conduct whole genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genome-wide genetic signals for complex traits.
Along with a multidisciplinary group of colleagues from Harvard University, Dr. Zhang is implementing a study to verify initial positive findings from GWAS of genetic variants that may determine abdominal adiposity in independent populations and to further examine the effect of gene-environment interactions.
DESPR Collaborators
· Liwei Chen, M.D., Ph.D., M.H.S.
Selected Publications
Qi L, Zhang C, Greenberg A, & Hu FB. (2008). Common variations in perilipin gene, central obesity, and risk of type 2 diabetes in US women. Obesity (Silver Spring), 16(5):1061-1065. [Abstract]
Qi L, Zhang C, van Dam RM, & Hu FB. (2007). Interleukin-6 genetic variability and adiposity: associations in two prospective cohorts and systematic review in 26,944 individuals. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 92(9):3618-3625. [Abstract]
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