SMIM1 absence is associated with reduced energy expenditure and excess weight.

Background

Obesity rates have nearly tripled in the past 50 years, and by 2030 more than 1 billion individuals worldwide are projected to be obese. This creates a significant economic strain due to the associated non-communicable diseases. The root cause is an energy expenditure imbalance, owing to an interplay of lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors. Obesity has a polygenic genetic architecture; however, single genetic variants with large effect size are etiological in a minority of cases. These variants allowed the discovery of novel genes and biology relevant to weight regulation and ultimately led to the development of novel specific treatments.

Methods

We used a case-control approach to determine metabolic differences between individuals homozygous for a loss-of-function genetic variant in the small integral membrane protein 1 (SMIM1) and the general population, leveraging data from five cohorts. Metabolic characterization of SMIM1-/- individuals was performed using plasma biochemistry, calorimetric chamber, and DXA scan.

Findings

We found that individuals homozygous for a loss-of-function genetic variant in SMIM1 gene, underlying the blood group Vel, display excess body weight, dyslipidemia, altered leptin to adiponectin ratio, increased liver enzymes, and lower thyroid hormone levels. This was accompanied by a reduction in resting energy expenditure.

Conclusion

This research identified a novel genetic predisposition to being overweight or obese. It highlights the need to investigate the genetic causes of obesity to select the most appropriate treatment given the large cost disparity between them.

Funding

This work was funded by the National Institute of Health Research, British Heart Foundation, and NHS Blood and Transplant.

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Title	SMIM1 absence is associated with reduced energy expenditure and excess weight.
Date	June 17th, 2024
Issue name	Med (New York, N.Y.)
Issue number	pubmed:38906141
DOI	10.1016/j.medj.2024.05.015
PubMed	38906141
Authors	Stefanucci L, Moslemi C, Tomé AR, Virtue S, Bidault G, Gleadall NS, Watson LPE, Kwa JE, Burden F, Farrow S, Chen J, Võsa U, Burling K, Walker L, Ord J, Barker P, Warner J, Frary A, Renhstrom K, Ashford SE, Piper J, Biggs G, Erber WN, Hoffman GJ, Schoenmakers N, Erikstrup C, Rieneck K, Dziegiel MH, Ullum H, Azzu V, Vacca M, Aparicio HJ, Hui Q, Cho K, Sun YV, Wilson PW, Bayraktar OA, Vidal-Puig A, Ostrowski SR, Astle WJ, Olsson ML, Storry JR, Pedersen OB, Ouwehand WH, Chatterjee K, Vuckovic D & Frontini M
Info	Banasik K, Bay J, Boldsen JK, Brodersen T, Brunak S, Burgdorf K, Chalmer MA, Didriksen M, Dinh KM, Dowsett J, Erikstrup C, Feenstra B, Geller F, Gudbjartsson D, Hansen TF, Hindhede L, Hjalgrim H, Jacobsen RL, Jemec G, Jensen BA, Kaspersen K, Kjerulff BD, Kogelman L, Hørup Larsen MA, Louloudis I, Lundgaard A, Susan, Mikkelsen C, Nissen I, Nyegaard M, Ostrowski SR, Pedersen OB, Henriksen AP, Rohde PD, Rostgaard K, Schwinn M, Stefansson K, Stefánsson H, Sørensen E, Þorsteinsdóttir U, Thørner LW, Bruun MT, Ullum H, Werge T, Westergaard D, Chen J, Spracklen CN, Marenne G, Varshney A, Corbin LJ, Luan J, Willems SM, Wu Y, Zhang X, Horikoshi M, Boutin TS, Mägi R, Waage J, Li-Gao R, Katie Chan KH, Yao J, Anasanti MD, Chu AY, Claringbould A, Heikkinen J, Hong J, Hottenga JJ, Huo S, Kaakinen MA, Louie T, März W, Moreno-Macias H, Ndungu A, Nelson SC, Nolte IM, North KE, Raulerson CK, Ray D, Rohde R, Rybin D, Schurmann C, Sim X, Southam L, Stewart ID, Wang CA, Wang Y, Wu P, Zhang W, Ahluwalia TS, Appel EVR, Bielak LF, Brody JA, Burtt NP, Cabrera CP, Cade BE, Chai JF, Chai X, Chang LC, Chen CH, Chen BH, Chitrala KN, Chiu YF, de Haan HG, Delgado GE, Demirkan A, Duan Q, Engmann J, Fatumo SA, Gayán J, Giulianini F, Gong JH, Gustafsson S, Hai Y, Hartwig FP, He J, Heianza Y, Huang T, Huerta-Chagoya A, Hwang MY, Jensen RA, Kawaguchi T, Kentistou KA, Kim YJ, Kleber ME, Kooner IK, Lai S, Lange LA, Langefeld CD, Lauzon M, Li M, Ligthart S, Liu J, Loh M, Long J, Lyssenko V, Mangino M, Marzi C, Montasser ME, Nag A, Nakatochi M, Noce D, Noordam R, Pistis G, Preuss M, Raffield L, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Rich SS, Robertson NR, Rueedi R, Ryan K, Sanna S, Saxena R, Schraut KE, Sennblad B, Setoh K, Smith AV, Southam L, Sparsø T, Strawbridge RJ, Takeuchi F, Tan J, Trompet S, van den Akker E, van der Most PJ, Verweij N, Vogel M, Wang H, Wang C, Wang N, Warren HR, Wen W, Wilsgaard T, Wong A, Wood AR, Xie T, Zafarmand MH, Zhao JH, Zhao W, Amin N, Arzumanyan Z, Astrup A, Bakker SJL, Baldassarre D, Beekman M, Bergman RN, Bertoni A, Blüher M, Bonnycastle LL, Bornstein SR, Bowden DW, Cai Q, Campbell A, Campbell H, Chang YC, de Geus EJC, Dehghan A, Du S, Eiriksdottir G, Farmaki AE, Frånberg M, Fuchsberger C, Gao Y, Gjesing AP, Goel A, Han S, Hartman CA, Herder C, Hicks AA, Hsieh CH, Hsueh WA, Ichihara S, Igase M, Ikram MA, Johnson WC, Jørgensen ME, Joshi PK, Kalyani RR, Kandeel FR, Katsuya T, Khor CC, Kiess W, Kolcic I, Kuulasmaa T, Kuusisto J, Läll K, Lam K, Lawlor DA, Lee NR, Lemaitre RN, Li H, Lin SY, Lindström J, Linneberg A, Liu J, Lorenzo C, Matsubara T, Matsuda F, Mingrone G, Mooijaart S, Moon S, Nabika T, Nadkarni GN, Nadler JL, Nelis M, Neville MJ, Norris JM, Ohyagi Y, Peters A, Peyser PA, Polasek O, Qi Q, Raven D, Reilly DF, Reiner A, Rivideneira F, Roll K, Rudan I, Sabanayagam C, Sandow K, Sattar N, Schürmann A, Shi J, Stringham HM, Taylor KD, Teslovich TM, Thuesen B, Timmers PRHJ, Tremoli E, Tsai MY, Uitterlinden A, van Dam RM, van Heemst D, van Hylckama Vlieg A, Van Vliet-Ostaptchouk JV, Vangipurapu J, Vestergaard H, Wang T, Willems van Dijk K, Zemunik T, Abecasis GR, Adair LS, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Alarcón-Riquelme ME, An P, Aviles-Santa L, Becker DM, Beilin LJ, Bergmann S, Bisgaard H, Black C, Boehnke M, Boerwinkle E, Böhm BO, Bønnelykke K, Boomsma DI, Bottinger EP, Buchanan TA, Canouil M, Caulfield MJ, Chambers JC, Chasman DI, Ida Chen YD, Cheng CY, Collins FS, Correa A, Cucca F, Janaka de Silva H, Dedoussis G, Elmståhl S, Evans MK, Ferrannini E, Ferrucci L, Florez JC, Franks PW, Frayling TM, Froguel P, Gigante B, Goodarzi MO, Gordon-Larsen P, Grallert H, Grarup N, Grimsgaard S, Groop L, Gudnason V, Guo X, Hamsten A, Hansen T, Hayward C, Heckbert SR, Horta BL, Huang W, Ingelsson E, James PS, Jarvelin MR, Jonas JB, Jukema JW, Kaleebu P, Kaplan R, Kardia SLR, Kato N, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi SM, Kim BJ, Kivimaki M, Koistinen HA, Kooner JS, Körner A, Kovacs P, Kuh D, Kumari M, Kutalik Z, Laakso M, Lakka TA, Launer LJ, Leander K, Li H, Lin X, Lind L, Lindgren C, Liu S, Loos RJF, Magnusson PKE, Mahajan A, Metspalu A, Mook-Kanamori DO, Mori TA, Munroe PB, Njølstad I, O'Connell JR, Oldehinkel AJ, Ong KK, Padmanabhan S, Palmer CNA, Palmer ND, Pedersen O, Pennell CE, Porteous DJ, Pramstaller PP, Province MA, Psaty BM, Qi L, Raffel LJ, Rauramaa R, Redline S, Ridker PM, Rosendaal FR, Saaristo TE, Sandhu M, Saramies J, Schneiderman N, Schwarz P, Scott LJ, Selvin E, Sever P, Shu XO, Slagboom PE, Small KS, Smith BH, Snieder H, Sofer T, Sørensen TIA, Spector TD, Stanton A, Steves CJ, Stumvoll M, Sun L, Tabara Y, Tai ES, Timpson NJ, Tönjes A, Tuomilehto J, Tusie T, Uusitupa M, van der Harst P, van Duijn C, Vitart V, Vollenweider P, Vrijkotte TGM, Wagenknecht LE, Walker M, Wang YX, Wareham NJ, Watanabe RM, Watkins H, Wei WB, Wickremasinghe AR, Willemsen G, Wilson JF, Wong TY, Wu JY, Xiang AH, Yanek LR, Yengo L, Yokota M, Zeggini E, Zheng W, Zonderman AB, Rotter JI, Gloyn AL, McCarthy MI, Dupuis J, Meigs JB, Scott RA, Prokopenko I, Leong A, Liu CT, Parker SCJ, Mohlke KL, Langenberg C, Wheeler E, Morris AP, Barroso I
Keywords	BMI, SMIM1, Translation to patients, Vel, blood groups, dyslipidemia, metabolism, obesity, population genetics, weight
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