Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are common and complex metabolic diseases, which are caused by an interchange between environmental and genetic factors. Recently, a number of large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our knowledge of the genetic architecture and biological mechanisms of these diseases. Currently, more than ~250 genetic loci have been found for monogenic, syndromic, or common forms of T2D and/or obesity-related traits. In this review, we discuss the implications of these GWAS for obesity and T2D, and investigate the overlap of loci for obesity-related traits and T2D, highlighting potential mechanisms that affect T2D susceptibility.
Keywords: Adiponectin; Beta-cell function; Body mass index; Fat distribution; Fat percent; Genome-wide association study; Insulin resistance; Leptin; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Obesity; Pericardial fat; Sexual dimorphism; Subcutaneous fat; Type 2 diabetes; Visceral fat; Waist-to-hip ratio.