Journal article

Prefrontal gray matter volume mediates genetic risks for obesity

N Opel, R Redlich, C Kaehler, D Grotegerd, K Dohm, W Heindel, H Kugel, A Thalamuthu, N Koutsouleris, V Arolt, A Teuber, H Wersching, BT Baune, K Berger, U Dannlowski

Molecular Psychiatry | SPRINGERNATURE | Published : 2017

Abstract

Genetic and neuroimaging research has identified neurobiological correlates of obesity. However, evidence for an integrated model of genetic risk and brain structural alterations in the pathophysiology of obesity is still absent. Here we investigated the relationship between polygenic risk for obesity, gray matter structure and body mass index (BMI) by the use of univariate and multivariate analyses in two large, independent cohorts (n=330 and n=347). Higher BMI and higher polygenic risk for obesity were significantly associated with medial prefrontal gray matter decrease, and prefrontal gray matter was further shown to significantly mediate the effect of polygenic risk for obesity on BMI in..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by German Research Foundation (DFG


Awarded by Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Studies (IZKF)


Awarded by German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)


Funding Acknowledgements

The study was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG; Grants FOR 2107, DA1151/5-1 to UD, and SFB-TRR58, Project C09 to UD), and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Studies (IZKF, Grant Dan3/012/17 to UD). The BiDirect Study is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, Grants FKZ-01ER0816, FKZ-01ER1506 and FKZ-01ER1205).