Allele Linked to Obesity in People

A single nucleotide polymorphism in BDNF is tied with lower levels of the protein and higher body-mass index.

kerry grens
| 1 min read

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FLICKR, TONY ALTERThe gene for brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF)—important for neuronal health and also implicated in appetite—has been associated with obesity in humans, and scientists have now figured out why. An allele of BDNF, called C, leads to lower protein levels because of disrupted binding to a transcription factor.

“Lower BDNF levels may contribute to obesity in people with the C allele. If these findings are supported by additional studies, boosting BDNF levels may prove beneficial,” lead author Joan Han of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center said in a press release.

Hans’s group combed through the genetic and health data of more than 31,000 people, finding that those with the C allele—caused by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)—were more likely to have increased body fat and a higher body-mass index (BMI). The team also analyzed postmortem tissue from 84 people and found lower BDNF levels in the hypothalamus among those with the CC genotype.

In the lab, Hans and her colleagues found that a transcription factor binds to BDNF at the site ...

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Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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