‘Fat gene’ found which makes adults six times more likely to be obese
A fat gene which makes an adult six times more likely to be obese has been found by scientists.
Around 1 in 6,500 adults, or around 10,000 people in the UK, are thought to have the faulty version of the BSM gene, also known as “Bassoon”.
It is active only in the brain and scientists believe it is the first fat-linked gene so far discovered to be exclusively associated with adulthood obesity and not lifelong obesity, including in childhood.
How the gene causes obesity is unknown but the scientists think it may be that affected people have issues making new neurons and the subsequent neurodegeneration could worsen appetite control.
Around 70 people in a study of the half a million UK Biobank participants were found to have the defective gene. Analysis shows these people had a six-fold increased risk of being obese as adults.
The work could be used to screen people with excessive weight for the gene but targeting it directly as a treatment is unlikely to work as it is ubiquitous in the brain. Bassoon plays a key role in how signals are transferred around the brain, passing them across the gaps between neurons.
The faulty gene, the scientists think, may slow down the creation of new neurons and this may interfere with the brain’s ability to rein in hunger and appetite and may be interfering with the sensation of satiety so that even though the body is full, the mind wants more.
Drugs which are known to help weight loss, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, work by interfering with the brain’s processing of satiety and therefore stop the sensation of needing to eat.
However, this category of drugs, known as GLP-1s, work by interfering with a different pathway in the brain, and will likely have no impact on the hunger caused by the flawed Bassoon gene.
Source: The Telegraph, 4 April 2024
See also: Zhao, Y., Chukanova, M., Kentistou, K.A. et al. Protein-truncating variants in BSN are associated with severe adult-onset obesity, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. Nat Genet (2024)
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