Scientists identify obesity genes in humans and Labradors

Good news for obesity patients – researchers have identified genes that might be responsible for obesity in both humans and Labradors. The bad news is that only a strict diet and exercise regime can help with the effects, at least for now.

As it happens, researchers at the University of Cambridge studying British Labrador retrievers have discovered multiple genes linked to canine obesity and found that these genes can aid in the development of this medical condition in humans as well, the institution said on March 6.

Specifically, the gene found to be the most strongly connected to obesity in both Labradors and humans is DENND1B, and it directly affects a brain pathway responsible for regulating the energy balance in the body, called the leptin-melanocortin pathway.

Confluence of obesity genes

Besides DENND1B, the scientists have identified four more genes that played a smaller role in obesity in dogs and humans alike. According to Natalie Wallis of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, and joint first author of the report:

“We found that dogs at high genetic risk of obesity were more interested in food. (…) We measured how much dogs pestered their owners for food and whether they were fussy eaters. Dogs at high genetic risk of obesity showed signs of having a higher appetite, as has also been shown for people at high genetic risk of obesity.”

Furthermore, dogs carrying the genetic variant most associated with obesity, DENND1B, had around 8% more body fat than those without it.

Regarding treatment, Alyce McClellan of the same department, also the joint first author of the report, explained that weight-loss drugs may not be able to target these genes as they control other important biological processes in the body, and disrupting them would be dangerous. However, the study’s “results emphasize the importance of fundamental brain pathways in controlling appetite and body weight.”

Per the study, owners who meticulously adhered to their dogs’ diet and exercise managed to prevent even those with high genetic risk from becoming obese, but the strategy required a lot more attention and effort. In the same vein, people at high genetic risk of developing obesity will require a strict diet and exercise regime.

As Dr. Eleanor Raffan, a researcher at the department, who led the study, stated:

“Studying the dogs showed us something really powerful: owners of slim dogs are not morally superior. The same is true of slim people. If you have a high genetic risk of obesity, then when there’s lots of food available you’re prone to overeating and gaining weight unless you put a huge effort into not doing so.”

Meanwhile, genes also play an important role in staving off cancer, at least in Greenland sharks that can live cancer-free for up to 400 years, signaling hope toward a potentially efficient cancer cure for humans.