Genetic factors and obesity

• twin, adoption and family studies have shown that genetic factors can play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity
  • however, while obesity runs in families, a Mendelian inheritance pattern is rarely evident
  • exceptions include uncommon disorders such as:
    • Prader-Willi syndrome (autosomal dominant, 1 in 25,000)
    • Bardet-Biedl syndrome (autosomal recessive, 1 in 100,000) syndromes
    • note that there have also been described monogenic forms of obesity such as congenital leptin deficiency and melanocortin-3 receptor mutations - these monogenic forms account for only a small proportion of cases of morbid obesity

Reference:

1. Xia Q, Grant SF; The genetics of human obesity. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2013 Jan 29.