Yervand Kondrahjiyan | Staff Writer
The global incidence of obesity is currently exhibiting a dramatic worldwide increase in children, adolescents, and adults. Obesity is a complex disease, which results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, producing an excessive fat depot accumulation. Socioeconomic status, education, physical activity, ethnicity, and dietary patterns have all been reported as significant environmental influences.
Alongside the various lifestyle and environmental influences, obesity is known to have a genetic factor. Strongly linked with the development of obesity, the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene was one of the first genetic loci identified as being associated with body weight. This gene is widely expressed in a range of human and animal tissues, with its expression being highest in the brain, especially in one of its main appetite regulating centers.
The association between FTO and dietary intake has been investigated in a number of studies. Variation in FTO has been associated with increased energy, fat, and protein intake. However, it has been shown that the effects of FTO can be modified by various dietary and lifestyle-related parameters.
Research showed that physical activity attenuated the effect of a certain variation of the FTO gene on BMI and waist circumference. The study showed that a genetic predisposition to obesity induced by variation in FTO can be overcome, at least in part, by adopting a physically active lifestyle.
Other findings suggest that dietary protein intake modifies the association between genetic variation in FTO and measures of body weight in certain ethnocultural groups. Higher dietary protein intakes might protect against the obesogenic effects of certain FTO variants, leading to improved individual metabolic profiles. The benefits of high-protein diets for weight management have been previously demonstrated, and these results have further suggested a link between FTO, protein intake, and body weight.
These recent studies, as well as additional research, indicate that personalized treatment courses are more effective against obesity. For the time being, the best therapy would be a combination of healthy dietary habits and increased physical activity. In severe cases, the application of drug treatment might be necessary. However, in the future, it is expected that genotype based interventions will be more relevant on the customized obesity therapy.