Newly Discovered Genetic Variants Could Increase Obesity Risk Six-Fold, Study Suggests

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Two genetic variants are linked to an increased risk of obesity in adults, according to a new study that researchers believe may have revealed a new way the brain plays a role in obesity.Researchers have discovered variants in the gene BSN increase the risk of obesity as much as six times, and variants in the gene APBA1 also increase obesity risk at an “only nominally significant” rate, according to a study published Thursday in Nature Genetics.

These variants were not associated with childhood obesity, making them one of the first genes linked to an increased risk of obesity that doesn’t happen until adulthood, according to the study. The researchers think the Bassoon and APBA1 genes impact obesity because they’re responsible for transmitting signals through brain cells and also contribute to diseases that lead to brain degeneration—like Alzheimer’s and multiple systems atrophy—so they may play a part in those cells damaging as the brain ages, hurting important connections between cells that control the appetite.

The researchers believe this may be a newly discovered biological mechanism for obesity, as previously studied variants decreased appetite regulation by acting through a part of the brain that’s involved in the hunger process called the leptin-melanocortin pathway—which Bassoon and APBA1 aren’t involved in.

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