Genetic variations in the serotoninergic system contribute to body-mass index in Chinese adolescents.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Obesity has become a worldwide health problem in the past decades. Human and animal studies have implicated serotonin in appetite regulation, and behavior genetic studies have shown that body mass index (BMI) has a strong genetic component. However, the roles of genes related to the serotoninergic (5-hydroxytryptamine,5-HT) system in obesity/BMI are not well understood, especially in Chinese subjects.

Subjects and design

With a sample of 478 healthy Chinese volunteers, this study investigated the relation between BMI and genetic variations of the serotoninergic system as characterized by 136 representative polymorphisms. We used a system-level approach to identify SNPs associated with BMI, then estimated their overall contribution to BMI by multiple regression and

SUBMITTER: Chen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3598805 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature