A genetic analysis of weight and overweight in 4-year-old twin pairs
A genetic analysis of weight and overweight in 4-year-old twin pairs
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DOI：
10.1038/sj.ijo.0801589
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发表时间：
2001-06-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Plomin, R
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Koeppen-Schomerus, G;Wardle, J;Plomin, R
目的：虽然许多双胞胎和收养研究记录了遗传对体重个体差异的影响，但对超重的遗传影响，体重和超重之间的遗传联系，或儿童时期体重和超重的起源知之甚少，这一年龄可能为预防肥胖提供了一个很好的目标。超重和体重一样具有遗传性，体重和超重之间存在遗传联系。设计：采用模型拟合分析方法，对同卵双生子和异卵双生子进行比较受试者：样本包括1994年在英国出生的3636对4岁双胞胎。测量：父母报告的身高和体重用于评估身高校正后的体重，其结果与体重指数（BMI）相似，但更完整地校正了遗传对身高的影响。在4岁时，遗传因素对整个分布中体重的个体差异以及超重儿童与其他人群之间的平均体重差异都有很大贡献。与生命后期的结果不同，4岁儿童的体重和超重也表明了大量的共同家庭环境影响。结果是相似的男孩和女孩。结论：超重是负责正常的体重变化在儿童时期的遗传和环境因素的数量极端。正如数量性状基因座（QTL）理论所假设的那样，与超重相关的基因可能与整个分布中的体重变化相关。这些发现将儿童期体重和超重联系起来，对分子遗传学试图确定负责遗传影响的特定基因、研究基因和行为之间的途径以及干预和预防具有深远的影响。
OBJECTIVE: Although many twin and adoption studies document genetic influence on individual differences in weight, much less is known about genetic influences on overweight, about the genetic links between weight and overweight, or about the origins of weight and overweight in childhood, an age that might provide a good target for prevention of obesity We tested the hypothesis that, in early childhood, overweight is as heritable as weight and that weight and overweight are linked geneticallyDESIGN: Model-fitting analyses were used to compare monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins (same-sex and opposite-sex) for weight and overweight.SUBJECTS: The sample included 3636 4-y-old twins born in the UK in 1994.MEASUREMENTS: Heights and weights reported by parents were used to assess weight corrected for height, which yields results similar to body mass index (BMI) but corrects more completely for genetic effects on height.RESULTS: At 4y of age, genetic factors contributed substantially both to individual differences in weight throughout the distribution and to the mean weight difference between overweight children and the rest of the population. Unlike results later in life, weight and overweight in 4-y-olds also suggest substantial shared family environmental influence. Results are similar for boys and girls.CONCLUSIONS: Overweight is the quantitative extreme of genetic and environmental factors responsible for normal variation in weight in childhood. Genes associated with overweight are likely to be associated with variation in weight throughout the distribution, as assumed by quantitative trait locus (QTL) theory. These findings linking weight and overweight in childhood have far-reaching implications for molecular genetic attempts to identify specific genes responsible for genetic influence, for investigating pathways between genes and behaviour, and for intervention and prevention.