Obesity-linked diabetes in the Arab world: a review

Abstract

The Arab world is experiencing an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This review summarizes the major pathological factors linking obesity to diabetes, focussing on current epidemiological data related to obese diabetic patients in the Arab world, the etiology of the disease and the genetic determinants of diabetes and obesity. There are alarming data related to the rising prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in children of Arab ethnicity. Replication studies identify several genetic variants in Arabs with obesitylinked diabetes. For example, variants of the ADIPOQ gene (the rs266729 single-nucleotide polymorphism) are associated with obesity and diabetes in various Arab countries. Gaps exist in our information about diabetes and obesity in Arab populations in relation to ethnic-specific cut-off points for diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Further genome-wide association studies in obese and diabetic Arab populations could add to our understanding of the pathophysiology, prevention and reversal of this disease.

Assessment of overweight and obesity in Iranian adolescents: optimal cut-off values of anthropometric indices

“…Moreover, we observed a higher prevalence of obesity in students of Arab ethnicity compared with other ethnic groups. The main causes of higher obesity in Arab ethnicity may be different dietary habits, inactivity due to the hotter and more humid climate conditions in Khozestan and genetic factors (25). On the other hand, the prevalence of overweight and obesity were lowest in the Sistani and Baluchi ethnic group and a high prevalence of underweight was observed in this group.…”

The TCN2 variant of rs9606756 [Ile23Val] acts as risk loci for obesity‐related traits and mediates by interacting with Apo‐A1

“…Obesity is a growing health concern for Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula . Kuwait is ranked top among the countries that have seen the largest increase in the rate of obesity .…”

Cross-population analysis for functional characterization of type II diabetes variants

“…In contrast to the Asian populations, we found that the genes identified in the Finnish, European, and American populations are mostly related to insulin resistance. The Saudi population is also characterized, as well as many Arab countries, by Adipocyte dysfunction which associates obesity to insulin resistance and diabetes [53]. Research shows that Metformin is the first line treatment for T2D in USA, UK, Finland and Saudi Arabia [54–57].…”