Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but the underlying genetic factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity-susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index (BMI) and ~2.8 million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals, with targeted follow-up of 42 SNPs in up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity-susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with BMI (P<5×10−8), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci (MC4R, POMC, SH2B1, BDNF) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one is near GIPR, an incretin receptor. Furthermore, genes in other newly-associated loci may provide novel insights into human body weight regulation.

OBJECTIVE -To estimate the prevalence of and the cardiovascular risk associated with the metabolic syndrome using the new definition proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -A total of 4,483 subjects aged 35-70 years participating in a large family study of type 2 diabetes in Finland and Sweden (the Botnia study) were included in the analysis of cardiovascular risk associated with the metabolic syndrome. In subjects who had type 2 diabetes (n ϭ 1,697), impaired fasting glucose (IFG)/impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (n ϭ 798), or insulin-resistance with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) (n ϭ 1,988), the metabolic syndrome was defined as presence of at least two of the following risk factors: obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, or microalbuminuria. Cardiovascular mortality was assessed in 3,606 subjects with a median follow-up of 6.9 years.RESULTS -In women and men, respectively, the metabolic syndrome was seen in 10 and 15% of subjects with NGT, 42 and 64% of those with IFG/IGT, and 78 and 84% of those with type 2 diabetes. The risk for coronary heart disease and stroke was increased threefold in subjects with the syndrome (P Ͻ 0.001). Cardiovascular mortality was markedly increased in subjects with the metabolic syndrome (12.0 vs. 2.2%, P Ͻ 0.001). Of the individual components of the metabolic syndrome, microalbuminuria conferred the strongest risk of cardiovascular death (RR 2.80; P ϭ 0.002).CONCLUSIONS -The WHO definition of the metabolic syndrome identifies subjects with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and offers a tool for comparison of results from different studies. Diabetes Care 24:683-689, 2001

Circulating glucose levels are tightly regulated. To identify novel glycemic loci, we performed meta-analyses of 21 genome-wide associations studies informative for fasting glucose (FG), fasting insulin (FI) and indices of β-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in up to 46,186 non-diabetic participants. Follow-up of 25 loci in up to 76,558 additional subjects identified 16 loci associated with FG/HOMA-B and two associated with FI/HOMA-IR. These include nine new FG loci (in or near ADCY5, MADD, ADRA2A, CRY2, FADS1, GLIS3, SLC2A2, PROX1 and FAM148B) and one influencing FI/HOMA-IR (near IGF1). We also demonstrated association of ADCY5, PROX1, GCK, GCKR and DGKB/TMEM195 with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Within these loci, likely biological candidate genes influence signal transduction, cell proliferation, development, glucose-sensing and circadian regulation. Our results demonstrate that genetic studies of glycemic traits can identify T2D risk loci, as well as loci that elevate FG modestly, but do not cause overt diabetes.