A Cohort Research of Genetic Susceptibility for Common Obesity in Women

Overview

Not many studies examined genetic determinants of obesity in women. As pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women appear to have different propensities for fat deposition, genetic loci linked with obesity-related phenotypes might be different by menopausal status. So far, there is no large scale of genetic study deciphering common obesity focusing on women population to examine the contributions of aging and change in menopausal status to obesity in Taiwan. The investigators propose this study to compare phenotypic profiles of obesity and cardio-metabolic factors in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. The study will examine the contributions of aging and change in menopausal status to the changes of obesity-related traits during the transition from pre-menopause to post-menopause period, and will evaluate the contribution of genetic susceptibility on body fat deposition among women at different stage of menopause.

Not many studies examined genetic determinants of obesity in women. As premenopausal and postmenopausal women appear to have different propensities for fat deposition, genetic loci linked with obesity-related phenotypes might be different by menopausal status. So far, there is no large scale of genetic study deciphering common obesity on women focusing on the interaction between aging and menopause in Taiwan. The investigators propose this study to compare phenotypic profiles of obesity and cardiometabolic factors in a large group of premenopausal and postmenopausal women. The study will examine the contributions of aging and menopausal status to the changes of obesity-related traits, and will evaluate the contribution of genetic susceptibility on body fat deposition among women at different stage of menopause. The investigators plan to recruit two groups of subjects: 600 premenopausal, and 600 postmenopausal women. Each woman will receive anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, fasting blood sampling for lipids, and an optional 75-g oral glucose tolerance test for insulin resistance. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry will also be used for body composition measurements among the study women if they agree to receive this optional examination. The investigators will collect blood samples for DNA extraction and select several candidate genes to study the associations between susceptible genes and obesity-related traits. The investigators anticipate that the results generated from the study will provide valuable data to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of common obesity during transition from premenopause to postmenopause in women.