Association of common genetic variants with body mass index in Russian population

Background Overweight is the scourge of modern society and a major risk factor for many diseases. For this reason, understanding the genetic component predisposing to high body mass index (BMI) seems to be an important task along with preventive measures aimed at improving eating behavior and increasing physical activity. Methods We analyzed genetic data of a European cohort ( n = 21,080, 47.25% women, East Slavs ancestry >80%) for 5 frequently found genes in the context of association with obesity: IPX3 (rs3751723), MC4R (rs17782313), TMEM18 (rs6548238), PPARG (rs1801282) and FTO (rs9939609). Results Our study revealed significant associations of FTO (rs9939609) (β = 0.37 (kg/m 2 )/allele, p = <2 × 10 −16 ), MC4R (rs17782313) (β = 0.28 (kg/m 2 )/allele, p = 5.79 × 10 −9 ), TMEM18 (rs6548238) (β = 0.29 (kg/m 2 )/allele, p = 2.43 × 10 −8 ) with BMI and risk of obesity. Conclusions The results confirm the contribution of FTO, M4CR, and TMEM18 genes to the mechanism of body weight regulation and control.