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Nature Research, Nature, 7538(518), p. 187-196, 2015

DOI: 10.1038/nature14132

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New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution

Journal article published in 2015 by Hedman Åk, Johan Ärnl, Weihua Zhang, Qunyuan Zhang, W. Zhang, Joseph M. W. Wu, Jmw Wu, Y. Wu, Wh Zhang, Aulchenko Ys, Hsu Yh, Loïc Yengo, Qy Zhang, Williams Ww, Cornelia M. van Duijn and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 x 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms.