New genetic links to obesity
The health problems associated with obesity are numerous. Despite this, a healthy weight is a goal that many obese people are at a loss to achieve. In an attempt to overcome this problem, scientists have studied the genetics of obesity by investigating the relationship between obesity-related genes and physiological responses to dietary fat. Of the candidates who took part in the study 600 were obese, and 120 were in the healthy weight zone. Their eating habits and life style were assessed, and a range of clinical tests such as body composition, blood samples and fat biopsies were carried out. Following this, the candidates were given a high fat test meal and various hormones and metabolites were measured at defined times. They then followed a hypocaloric diet for 10 weeks. During this period, metabolic and hormonal changes in body weight, composition, and in gene expression in adipose (fat) tissue were recorded. By studying changes in gene expression in adipose tissue in response to the varying fat content of the diets, several genes and gene variants were identified. These were regarded as being sensitive to changes in the fat content and were subsequently entered into an interactive database. The database includes information on the genes for which a response is noted with calorie restriction, overfeeding or changes in diet for humans or animals. It also includes a scoring system, which provides evidence for gene sensitivity. A preliminary version of the database is available in text form. When completed, the database will be available to the public on the internet and will be of interest to obesity researchers and to the pharmaceutical and food industries.
