{
  "id": 15946776,
  "title": "ASHG: Signals Based on Clinical Obesity Show Stronger Links to Cardiovascular Health than Those Linked to BMI",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/ashg-signals-based-on-clinical-obesity-show-stronger-links-to",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-21T18:30:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "GEN Biotechnology",
    "slug": "gen-biotechnology",
    "url": "https://www.genengnews.com/topics/drug-discovery/ashg-signals-based-on-clinical-obesity-show-stronger-links-to-cardiovascular-health-than-those-linked-to-bmi/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A research team, comprising nine members from Johns Hopkins University and one from The Ohio State University, has conducted a genome-wide association study and analysis using a new definition of clinical obesity. The study, which included 151,642 people with clinical obesity and 128,874 controls without obesity from five ancestry groups, identified 127 independent genetic loci associated with clinical obesity. Surprisingly, 63 of these loci had no significant association with the traditional BMI measure.\n\nOne of the most notable findings was a genetic variant rs15285 within the 3′-untranslated region of the LPL gene, which encodes lipoprotein lipase. This variant was associated with elevated triglyceride levels and colocalized to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for lipoprotein lipase. Additionally, the researchers developed a clinical obesity polygenic score that showed better associations with cardiovascular risk factors and inflammation markers compared to a BMI polygenic score.\n\nThe clinical obesity polygenic score also improved risk discrimination for myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stroke. The researchers then validated these findings across four additional U.S. public health studies, including the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Framingham Heart Study, and Women's Health Initiative.\n\nAccording to the researchers, the new clinical obesity definition, introduced by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission last year, captures genetic loci that are distinct from BMI and are biologically and clinically relevant to cardiovascular health. The Commission recommended that BMI should only be used as a surrogate measure of health risk at a population level, suggesting that excess adiposity should be confirmed by direct measurement of body fat or one anthropometric criterion in addition to BMI.",
  "summary": "Researchers also developed a clinical obesity polygenic score that combined information from numerous genetic variants, a score that was shown to be significantly associated with BMI, body fat percentage, and waist circumference. The post ASHG: Signals Based on Clinical Obesity Show Stronger Links to Cardiovascular Health than Those Linked to BMI appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}