Earlier research shows that the problem is more evident in Hispanic & black people as compared to white people.
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The study has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers suggest that increasing BDNF protein levels may offer a plan for people with the genetic variation that could help people fight obesity.
The BDNF protein is particularly important as it’s responsible for providing that feeling of fullness that comes (hopefully) after eating a meal, according to MedicalXpress. The present study offers an explanation to how a singular genetic change to BDNF can influence obesity apart from affecting the BDNF protein levels.
According to doctor Jack Yanovski, a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the BDNF gene has been linked to obesity in previous scientific studies so researchers have been paying close attention to it, trying to figure out how exactly it is linked to the issue and how manipulating this single gene can change the predisposition a person carrying it has to becoming obese. They learned that there is an area in the brain in which minor changes can trigger lower BDNF levels in the hypothalamus.
The common allele has been referred to as “T” and the allele that is less common has been named as “C:”, by the researchers. Cells are the gatekeepers of energy in the body, and the way genes influence these cells can cause them to store more energy than necessary, resulting in weight gain.
Joan C. Han, an investigator from the NICHD and the University of Tennessee’s Health Center and the lead of the research team that carried out the study, has been researching the BDNF protein and its effects on obesity for quite a few time.
The genetic difference was not a mutation but a variation that is relatively common throughout the general population.
Using this information, the researchers studied the BDNF gene in four groups of people, more than 31,000 males and females, enrolled in clinical research studies, including PAGE, HANDLS and Viva La Familia. Each person has two alleles of each gene, inherited from either parent. These Alleles can vary at any of the locations across the gene. They compared people that had 2 copies of “T” with those that had 1 or 2 copies of “C”.
After the combination was completed, researchers found that both black and Hispanic children with CC or Connecticut combination of genes had higher body fat percentages and BMI. The CC genetic combination has been found to be linked with higher BMI and body fat than TT or Connecticut combinations.
“Lower BDNF levels may contribute to obesity in people with the C allele”.
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A new finding has recently revealed that a discrepancy in the gene for brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) may affect the production of appetite controlling proteins.
