Multiple genetic variants have been associated with adult obesity and a few with severe obesity in childhood; however, less progress has been made in establishing genetic influences on common early-onset obesity. We performed a North American, Australian and European collaborative meta-analysis of 14 studies consisting of 5,530 cases (≥95th percentile of body mass index (BMI)) and 8,318 controls (<50th percentile of BMI) of European ancestry. Taking forward the eight newly discovered signals yielding association with P < 5 × 10 -6 in nine independent data sets (2,818 cases and 4,083 controls), we observed two loci that yielded genome-wide significant combined P values near OLFM4 at 13q14 (rs9568856; P = 1.82 × 10 -9; odds ratio (OR) = 1.22) and within HOXB5 at 17q21 (rs9299; P = 3.54 × 10 -9; OR = 1.14). Both loci continued to show association when two extreme childhood obesity cohorts were included (2,214 cases and 2,674 controls). These two loci also yielded directionally consistent associations in a previous meta-analysis of adult BMI.

doi.org/10.1038/ng.2247, hdl.handle.net/1765/57044
Nature Genetics
,
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Bradfield, J., Taal, R., Timpson, N., Scherag, A., Lecoeur, C., Warrington, N., … Grant, S. (2012). A genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies new childhood obesity loci. Nature Genetics, 44(5), 526–531. doi:10.1038/ng.2247