Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Mechanism of Regulation of Adipocyte Numbers in Adult Organisms Through Differentiation and Apoptosis Homeostasis
Published on: June 3, 2016
Candidate genes and growth curves for adiposity in African- and European-American youth
R H Podolsky1, P Barbeau, H-S Kang
1Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. rpodolsky@mail.mcg.edu
Objective:
Obesity is associated with multiple health problems and often originates in childhood. This study investigated the association of genes with the development of general and central obesity from childhood into adulthood.
Design:
Individual growth curves for measures of general adiposity were examined in an 11-year (1987-1998) cohort study. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 11 candidate genes were genotyped.
Subjects:
Five hundred and twenty-six subjects classified by race (49% African American (AA)), sex (47% male) and socio-economic status (SES).
Results:
AA female carriers of the 27Glu allele in the ADRB2 gene had a larger waist circumference (P<0.05). Subjects of high SES with the ApoB 4145Lys allele had a larger mean waist circumference than those without this allele (P<0.05). Only in the presence of an adverse environment (low SES) did carriers of the NOS3 298Asp allele have a larger mean body mass index, waist circumference and sum of skinfolds (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
These results suggest that several polymorphisms are associated with the mean level of adiposity, with the effects depending on other factors such as race, sex and/or SES.
Related Concept Videos
Nature and Nurture
Polygenic Traits
Signs of Puberty
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Incomplete Dominance
Lethal Alleles
Lucien Cuénot discovered lethal alleles in 1905 while studying the inheritance of coat color in mice. The agouti gene is responsible for the color of the coat in mice. This gene codes for an agouti-signaling protein, which is responsible for melanin distribution in mammals. The wild-type allele gives rise to gray-brown coat color in mice, while the mutant allele gives rise to yellow coat color. In addition to coat color, the agouti gene is associated with the yellow...
