Mutation of fat-related gene raises risk of obesity: study

A team of researchers from Kyoto University and a French national laboratory have become the world's first to discover that a mutation in a gene related to the detection of fats that enter the body raises the risk of obesity when fatty meals are eaten, according to the online version of the journal Nature posted Monday.

The gene, called GPR120, can also cause fatty liver if it mutates, because in such a case, the organ's ability to burn fat diminishes.

"Diagnosing the gene could help prevent symptoms resulting from metabolic syndrome and their treatment," said Gozo Tsujimoto, a Kyoto University professor and member of the team.

The international team gave fatty feed to two groups of mice -- one in which the GPR120 gene was deactivated and the other in which it was left active. The team found the mice in the group with the deactivated gene gained 15 percent more weight than the other group, while the total amount of body fat turned out to be double the amount in the mice with the normal gene.

The research also showed that the mice with deactivated GPR120 gene exhibited symptoms of fatty liver and diabetes...