Oligogenic inheritance in severe adult obesity
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2024
Abstract
Background/objectiveThe genetic architecture of extreme non-syndromic obesity in adults remains to be elucidated. A range of genes are known to cause monogenic obesity, but even when pathogenic mutations are present, there may be variable penetrance.MethodsWhole-exome sequencing (WES) was carried out on a 15-year-old male proband of Pakistani ancestry who had severe obesity. This was followed by family segregation analysis, using Sanger sequencing. We also undertook re-analysis of WES data from 91 unrelated adults with severe obesity (86% white European ancestry) from the Personalised Medicine for Morbid Obesity (PMMO) cohort, recruited from the UK National Health Service.ResultsWe identified an oligogenic mode of inheritance of obesity in the proband's family-this provided the impetus to reanalyze existing sequence data in a separate dataset. Analysis of PMMO participant data revealed two further patients who carried more than one rare, predicted-deleterious mutation in a known monogenic obesity gene. In all three cases, the genes involved had known autosomal dominant inheritance, with incomplete penetrance.ConclusionOligogenic inheritance may explain some of the variable penetrance in Mendelian forms of obesity. We caution clinicians and researchers to avoid confining sequence analysis to individual genes and, in particular, not to stop looking when the first potentially-causative mutation is found.
Keywords
Oligogenic inheritance, adult, obesity
Divisions
InstituteofBiologicalSciences
Publication Title
International Journal of Obesity
Volume
48
Issue
6
Publisher
SpringerNature
Publisher Location
CAMPUS, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON, N1 9XW, ENGLAND