new gene discovery links obesity to the brain

[Amby 490]

A variation in a gene that is active in the central nervous system is associated with increased risk for obesity, according to an international study in which Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University played a major role. The research adds to evidence that genes influence appetite and that the brain plays a key role in obesity.

Robert Kaplan, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology & population health, helped direct the international study, which involved 34 research institutions and is published online in PLoS Genetics. Dr. Kaplan and his U.S. and European colleagues found that people who have inherited the gene variant NRXN3 have a 10-15 percent increased risk of being obese compared with people who do not have the variant.

The researchers examined data from eight studies involving genes and body weight. These studies included more than 31,000 people of European origin, ages 45 to 76, representing a broad range of dietary habits and health behaviors.

After analyzing more than two million regions of the human genome, the researchers found that the NRXN3 gene variant ─ previously associated with alcohol dependence, cocaine addiction, and illegal substance abuse ─ also predicts the tendency to become obese. Altogether, researchers found the gene variant in 20 percent of the people studied.

"We've known for a long time that obesity is an inherited trait, but specific genes linked to it have been difficult to find," says Dr. Kaplan. "A lot of factors ─ the types and quantity of foods you eat, how much you exercise, and how you metabolize foods, for example ─ affect your body shape and size. So we are looking for genes that may have a small role to play in a complex situation."

NRXN3 is the third obesity-associated gene to be identified. The fact that all three genes are highly active in encoding brain proteins is significant, says Dr. Kaplan. "Considering how many factors are involved in obesity, it is interesting that research is increasingly pointing to the brain as being very important in its development," he said.

Identifying obesity genes could help in preventing the condition and lead to treatments for it. "Someday we may be able to incorporate several obesity genes into a genetic test to identify people at risk of becoming obese and alert them to the need to watch their diet and to exercise," Dr. Kaplan said. "Also, we may eventually see drugs that target the molecular pathways through which obesity genes exert their influence."

Since NRXN3 is active in the brain and also implicated in addiction, these traits may share some neurologic underpinnings. "Although we don't have data to suggest a direct connection between drug abuse and obesity, we can indirectly infer a link because both traits have this gene in common," Dr. Kaplan said.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/...90625210425.htm

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Airlines, are you listening?

[HAL 9000 96]

Sounds like ventral tegmental area. I suppose next up will be a characterization study to show NRXN3 is expressed there or in/around hypothalamus. Nice find Amby.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

chale

It's like if you are speaking in another language

[Amby 490]

HAL I love Science Daily. Great place to find lots of cool stuff

[Nagishkaw 510]

Stop bending your elbow and bombarding your mouth with food. Genes, brains, call it what you want. People are overweight because they stuff themselves excessively and unnecessarily.

[Amby 490]

Sounds like ventral tegmental area. I suppose next up will be a characterization study to show NRXN3 is expressed there or in/around hypothalamus. Nice find Amby.

neurons deep in the brain that release endorphins (I think)

HAL knows way more about the brain than I do

Edited July 2, 2009 by Amby

[HAL 9000 96]

HAL I love Science Daily. Great place to find lots of cool stuff

Just you wait. Coexpression with Dopamine Transporter too... that would be VTA fo sho.

This stuff is like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

chale

It's like if you are speaking in another language

I think HAL is just making ####### up

[HAL 9000 96]

Stop bending your elbow and bombarding your mouth with food. Genes, brains, call it what you want. People are overweight because they stuff themselves excessively and unnecessarily.

Yep. And the brain gets addicted to it just like with drugs.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

and all of us are like "Woooow, it sounds sooo scientific"

Yeah we are giving the PX32 to the IN32F with a twist to get the inclusive genome

[Amby 490]

tavo I try to make it easier to understand. I use normal words. HAL likes to sound smart. I just like to inform

[Chica Yeyé 41]

and all of us are like "Woooow, it sounds sooo scientific"

Yeah we are giving the PX32 to the IN32F with a twist to get the inclusive genome

I concur my respected and esteemed colleague... I argued the correlation between the gene 24al&18 and the altitude of the IN32F in my latest journal article. You read it , I presume??? B)

[HAL 9000 96]

Sounds like ventral tegmental area. I suppose next up will be a characterization study to show NRXN3 is expressed there or in/around hypothalamus. Nice find Amby.

neurons deep in the brain that release endorphins (I think)

HAL knows way more about the brain than I do

Pretty close! Go a little further posterior to the hypothalamus and you're spot on... POMC being the endorphin responsible for limiting food intake. NPY being the one secreted to increase intake.

chale

It's like if you are speaking in another language

I think HAL is just making ####### up

And you like to fart.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

OMG is that code for p0rn?????