Your Genetic Make-up can Keep You Slim

Genetics make us who we are but little did we know on how these genes can influence our body weight. In a recent study 20% of the participant showed the link between genes and bodyweight, “lifestyle, such as eating habits and exercise, have a great impact, but genetic factors also exert an influence,” explains researcher, Nerea Deleyto-Seldas from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO).

There are about a hundred genetic variants that have the tendency to increase the probability of having a high Body Mass Index (BMI, a common indicator of being overweight or suffering from obesity) have already been identified but we know that there are more in existence. CNIO and IMDEA Food researchers have identified a new one. Their work is published in the journal Genome Biology, with Nerea Deleyto-Seldas (CNIO) and Lara P. Fernandez, from the IMDEA Food Institute, as first co-authors.

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What are Genetic Variants and How do they Impact Us?

Genetic variants are a different form of gene, but they generally don’t show any prominent change in the body. But as per this new study, specific variant that was discovered does: it affects the stored amount of fat in the body, and the authors of the new study have highlighted on it being prevalent in Europe. It is estimated to be present in almost 60% of the European population.

For Alejo Efeyan, head of the CNIO's Metabolism and Cell Signaling Group, “the finding is a step forward in the understanding of the genetic components of obesity.” Ana Ramirez de Molina, director of the IMDEA Food Institute, believes that “a deep knowledge of the involvement of the cellular nutrient-sensing pathway in obesity may have implications for the development and application of personalized strategies in the prevention and treatment of obesity."

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Genetics and Obesity

In a recent study, obesity and its link with genetics was studied using 790 participants. It was an attempt to find genetic variants that influence the phenomenon, and the associated metabolic alterations, a team from IMDEA Food Institute collected genetic material and data such as body weight, BMI, total and visceral fat, muscle mass, waist and hip circumferences, among others, from 790 healthy volunteers.

Researchers studied the possible associations of these parameters with 48 genetic variants, selected based on their potential functional relevance. They detected a “significant correlation between one of these variants in the FNIP2 gene and many of these obesity-related parameters,” explains the study, which has just been published in the scientific journal Genome Biology.

The CNIO team then studied the effect of this variant in mice genetically-engineered to express it. “We found that mice with this variant, which in people is associated with leanness, have between 10% and 15% less fat than their non-carrier counterparts,” explains Efeyan.

In humans, it is harder to separate the variant from the environmental factors and its physical influence making the study difficult with humans, but we know that the influence of genetics on obesity is about 20%, making the influence of the variant minimal.

For this reason, researchers use terms like predisposition or tendency: “It is not at all the case that people with this genetic variant can overeat without getting fat,” Efeyan clarifies.

The animals genetically modified for this study showed no other alterations or differences. “The observations in mice are very striking, because many of these studies are typically limited to reporting associations in the human population; in this paper we show that changing a single letter in the entire mouse genome replicates what we observed in the human variant,” Efeyan continues.

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Understanding what the Cell 'Eats'

This variant is placed in a gene that is responsible for initiation of pathway that signals the cell on what nutrients are available.

The goal for the future is to “better understand the molecular basis of the effects of this genetic variant, i.e. what is happening biochemically to the cell,” adds Nerea Deleyto. “We need to improve the genetic tools to dissect when the functional consequences of this variant are important in the organism, for example, during fat development,” she emphasizes.

This study has given rise to a pathway that can help us in understanding on how evolution plays an important role in contracting such variants and how they can be manipulated in various fields.

Source-Medindia