Genetic background to
ravages of obesity
Why do some overweight people stay healthy (apart from
possible musculo-skeletal disorders) while obesity in
other individuals leads to complications like diabetes
and cardiovascular disease?
The explanation lies in the genes. Scientists at the
Department of Clinical Sciences at Lund University in
Malmo, Sweden , have identified a gene that exists in a
special variant in most overweight people, a variant
that makes fatty acids "leak" into the blood stream,
where they don't belong.
Fat is constantly being metabolized by the body-being
produced, broken down, and rebuilt. Adiponutrin is a
protein that takes part in this process. But overweight
people often have a variant of the adiponutrin gene that
causes the amounts of this protein to be lower than
normal.
"Adiponutrin is supposed to constitute a kind of
'corset' that keeps fat in its place in fatty tissue. If
the protein doesn't do its job after a sugar-rich meal,
fatty acids leak into the blood instead. The high
content of fat in the blood then affects the
cardiovascular system, the liver, muscles, and
pancreas," explains Associate Professor Martin
Ridderstrale.
The difference between obese people who are healthy and
those who develop diabetes and cardiovascular disorders
may be the result of their having different variants of
the adiponutrin gene and some other genes, he believes.
The research team in Malmo is therefore busy developing
a map of genes that can show what variants of key genes
function as protection and as risk factors,
respectively, in connection with these diseases.
"In the future this kind of mapping of an obese patient
may be of significance in treatment. Certain
medications, for example, might be more appropriate for
people with certain gene variants. This opens the
possibility of tailoring treatment to each individual,"
says Martin Ridderstrale.
The research team's findings on the adiponutrin gene are
described in an article in the latest issue of the
internationally recognized journal Diabetes.
