Newly Identified Gene Implicated in Obesity and Alzheimer’s Disease

A recently discovered variant of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene carried by nearly 50% of those of western European descent, is not only associated with higher weight and greater waist circumference, but has now been found to be expressed in the brain.  Paul M. Thompson, from University of California/Los Angeles (UCLA; California, USA), and colleagues compared brain scans of more than 200 people and found that people with the obesity variant of the FTO gene had 8%  less tissue in their frontal lobes, and also had 12% less tissue in their occipital lobes.  By reducing the amount of brain reserve available to compensate after brain plaques typifying Alzheimer’s Disease form, these reduced brain volumes may put those with the FTO gene variant at particularly susceptible risk of succumbing to Alzheimer’s.  The team warns that: “These brain maps reveal that a commonly carried susceptibility allele for obesity is associated with structural brain atrophy, with implications for the health of the elderly.”