Genome-wide association scan meta-analysis identifies three loci influencing adiposity and fat distribution.

Lindgren CM, Heid IM, Randall JC, Lamina C, Steinthorsdottir V, Qi L, Speliotes EK, Thorleifsson G, Willer CJ, Herrera BM, Jackson AU, Lim N, Scheet P, Soranzo N, Amin N, Aulchenko YS, Chambers JC, Drong A, Luan J, Lyon HN, Rivadeneira F, Sanna S, Timpson NJ, Zillikens MC, Zhao JH, Almgren P, Bandinelli S, Bennett AJ, Bergman RN, Bonnycastle LL, Bumpstead SJ, Chanock SJ, Cherkas L, Chines P, Coin L, Cooper C, Crawford G, Doering A, Dominiczak A, Doney AS, Ebrahim S, Elliott P, Erdos MR, Estrada K, Ferrucci L, Fischer G, Forouhi NG, Gieger C, Grallert H, Groves CJ, Grundy S, Guiducci C, Hadley D, Hamsten A, Havulinna AS, Hofman A, Holle R, Holloway JW, Illig T, Isomaa B, Jacobs LC, Jameson K, Jousilahti P, Karpe F, Kuusisto J, Laitinen J, Lathrop GM, Lawlor DA, Mangino M, McArdle WL, Meitinger T, Morken MA, Morris AP, Munroe P, Narisu N, Nordstrom A, Nordstrom P, Oostra BA, Palmer CN, Payne F, Peden JF, Prokopenko I, Renstrom F, Ruokonen A, Salomaa V, Sandhu MS, Scott LJ, Scuteri A, Silander K, Song K, Yuan X, Stringham HM, Swift AJ, Tuomi T, Uda M, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Wallace C, Walters GB, Weedon MN, Witteman JC, Zhang C, Zhang W, Caulfield MJ, Collins FS, Davey Smith G, Day IN, Franks PW, Hattersley AT, Hu FB, Jarvelin MR, Kong A, Kooner JS, Laakso M, Lakatta E, Mooser V, Morris AD, Peltonen L, Samani NJ, Spector TD, Strachan DP, Tanaka T, Tuomilehto J, Uitterlinden AG, van Duijn CM, Wareham NJ, Hugh Watkins, Waterworth DM, Boehnke M, Deloukas P, Groop L, Hunter DJ, Thorsteinsdottir U, Schlessinger D, Wichmann HE, Frayling TM, Abecasis GR, Hirschhorn JN, Loos RJ, Stefansson K, Mohlke KL, Barroso I and McCarthy MI

PLoS Genet (2009) 5:e1000508

To identify genetic loci influencing central obesity and fat distribution, we performed a meta-analysis of 16 genome-wide association studies (GWAS, N = 38,580) informative for adult waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR). We selected 26 SNPs for follow-up, for which the evidence of association with measures of central adiposity (WC and/or WHR) was strong and disproportionate to that for overall adiposity or height. Follow-up studies in a maximum of 70,689 individuals identified two loci strongly associated with measures of central adiposity; these map near TFAP2B (WC, P = 1.9x10^-11) and MSRA (WC, P = 8.9x10^-9). A third locus, near LYPLAL1, was associated with WHR in women only (P = 2.6x10^-8). The variants near TFAP2B appear to influence central adiposity through an effect on overall obesity/fat-mass, whereas LYPLAL1 displays a strong female-only association with fat distribution. By focusing on anthropometric measures of central obesity and fat distribution, we have identified three loci implicated in the regulation of human adiposity.