Detecting monogenic obesity: a systematic exome-wide workup of over 500 individuals

Obesity poses a major public health concern. Although BMI heritability is estimated at 40-80%, genetic diagnostics remain challenging. This study aims to (i) assess the diagnostic yield of monogenic obesity in a large patient sample using exome-wide data, (ii) identify predictors to improve genetic testing criteria, and (iii) evaluate whether the identified genes are included in public obesity gene panels.

We reviewed the genetic test results of 521 patients with obesity. 84.7% underwent whole-exome analysis, 15.3% were analyzed using a multi-thousand-gene panel.

Monogenic obesity was diagnosed in 5.8% of patients, while 7.1% carried a potentially obesogenic variant. Diagnostic yield was higher in children (6.3%) and patients with syndromic obesity (7.0%). Surprisingly, diagnostic yield was lower in severe obesity cases. 40% of patients with monogenic obesity carried variants in genes not included in current obesity panels.

Overall, 12.9% of patients had monogenic obesity or a potentially obesogenic variant. These findings suggest that genetic testing should not be limited to patients with extreme obesity. Current obesity panels miss crucial syndromic genes, demonstrating a need for more comprehensive panels and the superiority of whole-exome sequencing in obesity.