The mystery of how a gene linked to obesity causes people to
gain weight has been solved. The findings have emerged as a hope for new
therapies for the disease, which is a growing health concern across the globe.
The study conducted by a research team at University College
London shows that people with a variation of the FTO gene that affects one in
six people are 70 percent more likely to become obese. The study shows that the
FTO gene variation increases the circulating levels of the ‘hunger hormone’,
ghrelin, in blood. The FTO gene has long been linked to obesity, but until now its
working was not known.
The FTO gene variation leads to high level of ghrelin, a
hormone that regulates hunger and response of body to food. Brain imaging
revealed that the FTO gene variation even changes the response of brain to the
images of food. The study showed that people with the FTO gene variation prefer
high calorie food, does not feel full after eating and thus eat more and gain
kilos.
The researchers feel that the current findings may have
immediate implications for both the investigation of the neurological basis of
human obesity and for its treatment, despite the need of further mechanistic
studies. "At a therapeutic level this arms us
with some important new insights to help in the fight against the obesity pandemic. For
example, we know that ghrelin (and therefore hunger) can be reduced by exercise
like running and cycling, or by eating a high-protein diet. There are also some
drugs in the pipeline that suppress ghrelin, which might be particularly
effective if they are targeted to patients with the obesity-risk variant of the
FTO gene," said Dr. Rachel Batterham from UCL in a university press
release.
The earlier studies of FTO gene have relied on mice, but
this study analyzed blood samples and brain images from people.
