Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Human Genetics logoLink to American Journal of Human Genetics
. 1993 May;52(5):967–973.

Segregation analysis of fat mass and other body composition measures derived from underwater weighing.

T Rice 1, I B Borecki 1, C Bouchard 1, D C Rao 1
PMCID: PMC1682031  PMID: 8488846

Abstract

Segregation patterns of three body composition measures which were derived from underwater weighing were evaluated in a random sample of 176 French-Canadian families. Two of the variables can be considered as primary partitions of weight (fat mass [FM] and fat-free mass [FFM]), while the remaining variable (percent body fat [%BF]) is a derived index combining the measures of both fat and fat-free weight. This study represents the first report investigating major gene effects for these measures. Segregation analyses revealed that a major locus hypothesis could not be rejected for two of the three phenotypes. The single exception was FFM, for which nearly 60% of the variance was accounted for by a non-Mendelian major effect, which may reflect environmentally based commingling or may be in part a function of gene-environment interactions or correlations. In contrast to the results for FFM, the results for each of FM and %BF were similar and suggested a major locus which accounted for 45% of the variance, with an additional 22%-26% due to a multifactorial component. Given the similarity of the major gene characteristics for these two phenotypes, the possibility that the same gene underlies both measures warrants investigation. A reasonable hypothesis is to consider genes that may influence nutrient partitioning, as the family of candidate genes to receive the major attention.

Full text

PDF
967

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Borecki I. B., Rice T., Bouchard C., Rao D. C. Commingling analysis of generalized body mass and composition measures: the Québec Family Study. Int J Obes. 1991 Nov;15(11):763–773. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bouchard C., Pérusse L. Heredity and body fat. Annu Rev Nutr. 1988;8:259–277. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nu.08.070188.001355. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bouchard C., Pérusse L., Leblanc C., Tremblay A., Thériault G. Inheritance of the amount and distribution of human body fat. Int J Obes. 1988;12(3):205–215. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bouchard C., Savard R., Després J. P., Tremblay A., Leblanc C. Body composition in adopted and biological siblings. Hum Biol. 1985 Feb;57(1):61–75. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burton B. T., Foster W. R., Hirsch J., Van Itallie T. B. Health implications of obesity: an NIH Consensus Development Conference. Int J Obes. 1985;9(3):155–170. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Demenais F., Lathrop M., Lalouel J. M. Robustness and power of the unified model in the analysis of quantitative measurements. Am J Hum Genet. 1986 Feb;38(2):228–234. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Després J. P., Moorjani S., Lupien P. J., Tremblay A., Nadeau A., Bouchard C. Regional distribution of body fat, plasma lipoproteins, and cardiovascular disease. Arteriosclerosis. 1990 Jul-Aug;10(4):497–511. doi: 10.1161/01.atv.10.4.497. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Himes J. H., Bouchard C. Do the new Metropolitan Life Insurance weight-height tables correctly assess body frame and body fat relationships? Am J Public Health. 1985 Sep;75(9):1076–1079. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.9.1076. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Karlin S., Williams P. T., Jensen S., Farquhar J. W. Genetic analysis of the Stanford LRC family study data. I. Structured exploratory data analysis of height and weight measurements. Am J Epidemiol. 1981 Mar;113(3):307–324. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113100. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kral J. G. Morbid obesity and related health risks. Ann Intern Med. 1985 Dec;103(6 ):1043–1047. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-103-6-1043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lalouel J. M., Morton N. E. Complex segregation analysis with pointers. Hum Hered. 1981;31(5):312–321. doi: 10.1159/000153231. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lalouel J. M., Rao D. C., Morton N. E., Elston R. C. A unified model for complex segregation analysis. Am J Hum Genet. 1983 Sep;35(5):816–826. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Maclean C. J., Morton N. E., Elston R. C., Yee S. Skewness in commingled distributions. Biometrics. 1976 Sep;32(3):695–699. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Moll P. P., Burns T. L., Lauer R. M. The genetic and environmental sources of body mass index variability: the Muscatine Ponderosity Family Study. Am J Hum Genet. 1991 Dec;49(6):1243–1255. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Price R. A., Ness R., Laskarzewski P. Common major gene inheritance of extreme overweight. Hum Biol. 1990 Dec;62(6):747–765. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pérusse L., Rice T., Bouchard C., Vogler G. P., Rao D. C. Cardiovascular risk factors in a French-Canadian population: resolution of genetic and familial environmental effects on blood pressure by using extensive information on environmental correlates. Am J Hum Genet. 1989 Aug;45(2):240–251. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Zonta L. A., Jayakar S. D., Bosisio M., Galante A., Pennetti V. Genetic analysis of human obesity in an Italian sample. Hum Hered. 1987;37(3):129–139. doi: 10.1159/000153690. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Human Genetics are provided here courtesy of American Society of Human Genetics

RESOURCES