Obese but Healthy, Thin but Chronic Disease? ... The Secret is 'Gene'

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] A genetic variant that can explain the difference between metabolically unhealthy lean individuals and metabolically healthy obese individuals has been discovered.

Professor Jiwon Lee and Professor Jaemin Park of the Department of Family Medicine at Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital, along with the research team from the genome analysis company Theragen Bio, announced on the 3rd that they had discovered a genetic variant related to metabolic diseases.

The research team analyzed cohort data from the Korean Genome Epidemiology Study (KoGES) conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s National Institute of Health and made this discovery. They divided 49,915 adults aged 40 to 79 into four groups based on weight (normal weight/obese) and metabolic risk factors (fewer than 2/2 or more) and performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS).

As a result, in the group with normal weight but two or more metabolic risk factors, variants were observed in the gene regions LPL, APOA5, CETP, GCKR, ABCB11, CDKAL1, CDKN2B, NT5C2, and APOC1. In the group that was obese with two or more risk factors, variants were observed in the gene regions LPL, APOA5, and CETP.

The research team analyzed that regardless of weight, if there are variants in the LPL, APOA5, and CETP gene regions, the individual is metabolically unhealthy, and even if the weight is normal, variants in the GCKR, ABCB11, CDKAL1, CDKN2B, NT5C2, and APOC1 genes indicate metabolic risk.

Professor Jiwon Lee said, "The genetic differences between people who are normal weight but metabolically at risk and those who are obese but have a low risk of metabolic diseases could be used as personalized treatment targets for preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular diseases in the future." However, she added, "Further research is needed to determine whether metabolic risk factors such as blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol cause genetic variants or whether genetic variants increase these risk factors."

Professor Jaemin Park added, "So far, the best way to prevent metabolic diseases is to maintain an appropriate weight, have a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and avoid smoking and drinking. If you have a family history or risk factors such as high blood pressure or blood sugar, regular check-ups are recommended."

This study was conducted as part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s project ‘Development of Health Risk Prediction and Management Services Based on User-Participatory Big Data’ and was recently published in the international journal Scientific Reports.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.