title: Leptin, insulin, and obesity-related phenotypes: genetic influences on levels and longitudinal changes.
abstract: This study estimated the genetic and environmental determinants of plasma leptin and insulin levels and of obesity-related phenotypes. Included in this analysis were family members from 80 families living in kibbutz settlements, who participated in two examinations 8-10 years apart. We estimated that polygenes explained 30-50% of the adjusted leptin and insulin levels and 30-70% of the anthropometric phenotypes. This study demonstrated a significant genetic influence on longitudinal changes in leptin and BMI (h(2) = 0.45) and small-to-moderate heritability estimates for changes in insulin and other obesity-related phenotypes. In bivariate genetic analyses, we observed positive genetic correlations between leptin and anthropometric phenotypes, suggesting that shared effects of the same sets of loci account for 20-30% of the additive genetic variance in these pairs of variables. Shared genetic factors also account for 20-25% of the additive genetic variance in insulin-anthropometric pairs of variables.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Epidemiology, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health, Jerusalem, Israel. yechielf@ekmd.huji.ac.il
authors.forename: Yechiel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Friedlander
authors.forename: Vardiella
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Meiner
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharon
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Siscovick
authors.forename: Andre R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Miserez
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D012931:Social Environment
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin