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Sex Differences in Heritability of BMI: A Comparative Study of Results from Twin Studies in Eight Countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Karoline Schousboe ,
Gonneke Willemsen ,
Kirsten O. Kyvik ,
Jakob Mortensen ,
Dorret I. Boomsma ,
Belinda K. Cornes ,
Chayna J. Davis ,
Corrado Fagnani ,
Jacob Hjelmborg  and
Jaakko Kaprio
...Show all authors
Karoline Schousboe
Affiliation:
The Danish Twin Registry, Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Gonneke Willemsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,The Netherlands.
Kirsten O. Kyvik
Affiliation:
The Danish Twin Registry, Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Jakob Mortensen
Affiliation:
The Danish Twin Registry, Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Dorret I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,The Netherlands.
Belinda K. Cornes
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Chayna J. Davis
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Corrado Fagnani
Affiliation:
Italian National Institute of Health, Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Rome, Italy.
Jacob Hjelmborg
Affiliation:
The Danish Twin Registry, Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Jaakko Kaprio
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Marlies de Lange
Affiliation:
Twin Research Unit, St.Thomas' Hospital, London, UK.
Michelle Luciano
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Nicholas G. Martin
Affiliation:
Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.
Nancy Pedersen
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Kirsi H. Pietiläinen
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland; Obesity Research Unit, Biomedicum Research Institute, Helsinki Univ. Central Hospital, Finland.
Aila Rissanen
Affiliation:
Obesity Research Unit, Biomedicum Research Institute, Helsinki Univ. Central Hospital, Finland.
Suoma Saarni
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Thorkild I.A. Sørensen
Affiliation:
Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Institute of Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
G. Caroline M. van Baal
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,The Netherlands.
Jennifer R. Harris*
Affiliation:
The Norwegian Insitute of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Genes and Environment, Oslo, Norway. jennifer.harris@fhi.no
*
*Address for correspondence: Jennifer R. Harris, The Norwegian Insitute of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Genes and Environment, Post Box 4404 Nydalen, N-0403 Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

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Body mass index (BMI), a simple anthropometric measure, is the most frequently used measure of adiposity and has been instrumental in documenting the worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity witnessed during the last decades. Although this increase in overweight and obesity is thought to be mainly due to environmental changes, i.e., sedentary lifestyles and high caloric diets, consistent evidence from twin studies demonstrates high heritability and the importance of genetic differences for normal variation in BMI. We analysed self-reported data on BMI from approximately 37,000 complete twin pairs (including opposite sex pairs) aged 20–29 and 30–39 from eight different twin registries participating in the GenomEUtwin project. Quantitative genetic analyses were conducted and sex differences were explored. Variation in BMI was greater for women than for men, and in both sexes was primarily explained by additive genetic variance in all countries. Sex differences in the variance components were consistently significant. Results from analyses of opposite sex pairs also showed evidence of sex-specific genetic effects suggesting there may be some differences between men and women in the genetic factors that influence variation in BMI. These results encourage the continued search for genes of importance to the body composition and the development of obesity. Furthermore, they suggest that strategies to identify predisposing genes may benefit from taking into account potential sex specific effects.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 6 , Issue 5 , 01 October 2003 , pp. 409 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003