A strategy to search for common obesity and type 2 diabetes genes.
Worldwide, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is rising rapidly, mainly because of the increase in the incidence of obesity, which is an important risk factor for this condition. Both obesity and type 2 diabetes are complex genetic traits but they also share some nongenetic risk factors. Hence, it is tempting to speculate that the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and obesity might also partly be due to shared genes. By comparing all of the published genome scans for type 2 diabetes and obesity, five overlapping chromosomal regions for both diseases (encompassing 612 candidate genes) have been identified. By analysing these five susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes and obesity, using six freely available bioinformatics tools for disease gene identification, 27 functional candidate genes have been pinpointed that are involved in eating behaviour, metabolism and inflammation. These genes might reveal a molecular link between the two disorders.
Elbers
Clara C
CC
Complex Genetics Section, Department of Biomedical Genetics, University Medical Centre Utrecht, PO Box 85060, 3508 AB Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Onland-Moret
N Charlotte
NC
Franke
Lude
L
Niehoff
Anne G
AG
van der Schouw
Yvonne T
YT
Wijmenga
Cisca
C
D000818:Animals; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics*; D012107:Research Design