%0 Journal Article %T The INSIG2 rs7566605 genetic variant does not play a major role in obesity in a sample of 24,722 individuals from four cohorts %A Jan Bressler %A Myriam Fornage %A Craig L Hanis %A Wen Kao %A Cora E Lewis %A Ruth McPherson %A Robert Dent %A Thomas H Mosley %A Len A Pennacchio %A Eric Boerwinkle %J BMC Medical Genetics %D 2009 %I BioMed Central %R 10.1186/1471-2350-10-56 %X Differences in mean body mass index (BMI) and other anthropometric measures including weight, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio were assessed by a general linear model in individuals categorized by INSIG2 rs7566605 genotype. Multivariable logistic regression was used to predict the risk of obesity (BMI ¡Ý 30 kg/m2).There was no discernable variation in the frequencies of the three INSIG2 SNP genotypes observed between white, Hispanic, and African-American obese individuals and non-obese study subjects. When the relationship between rs7566605 and BMI considered either as a categorical variable or a continuous variable was examined, no significant association with obesity was found for participants in any of the four study populations or in a combined analysis (p = 0.38) under a recessive genetic model. There was also no association between the INSIG2 polymorphism and the obesity-related quantitative traits except for a reduced waist-to-hip ratio in white ARIC study participants homozygous for the C allele, and an increased waist-to-hip ratio in African-Americans in the ARIC cohort with the same genotype (p = 0.04 and p = 0.01, respectively). An association with waist-to-hip ratio was not seen when the combined study sample was analyzed (p = 0.74).These results suggest that the INSIG2 rs7566605 variant does not play a major role in determining obesity risk in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 24,722 individuals from four cohorts.Obesity results from an imbalance between food intake and energy expenditure, and is a major risk factor for many of the chronic diseases of adulthood including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke [1,2]. Although the results of twin and adoption studies provide strong support for a genetic influence on body weight [3-5], mutations causing monogenic forms of obesity are rare in the population [6], and major genes contributing to common obesity have not been described. In addition, interaction betw %U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/10/56