Genomic Strategies Reveal Biomarkers Underlying Racial/Ethnic Differences in Body Composition

Ancestral genetic background may have a profound effect on racial/ethnic differences in body composition leading to obesity.  Studies have consistently shown that African American (AA) children have greater bone mineral content and lean mass than European American (EA) children and Hispanic American (HA) children.  Also, EA and HA children accumulate significantly greater amounts of total fat mass and intra abdominal adipose tissue relative to AA children.  This project uses bioinformatic and comparative genomic strategies to identify the critical biomarkers associated with the genotypes underlying racial/ethnic differences in body composition.  Two genes found on human chromosome 01, PKLR and LEPR, were identified as having alleles associated with racial/ethnic differences in susceptibility to obesity.  These results show promise towards uncovering potential components of a future personal genomics test for identifying racial/ethnic-specific susceptibility or predisposition to obesity.