A locus affecting obesity in human chromosome region 10p12

Aims/hypothesis. Obesity is a complex trait influenced by multiple genes. W e evaluated linkage in three regions of human chromosome 10 previously link ed to obesity-related phenotypes. Methods. We conducted non-parametric linkage analysis of obesity-related ph enotypes in cohorts of 170 European-American and 43 African-American famili es having extremely obese and normal weight subjects. Results. We found support for linkage of an obesity phenotype (BMI greater than or equal to 27 kg/m(2)) in both cohorts, as well as in a combined anal ysis (European-American cohort, Z = 1.90, p = 0.03; African-American cohort , Z = 2.25, p = 0.014; combined cohort, Z = 2.55, p = 0.005). Conclusion/interpretation. These results confirm previous reports of linkag e in French and German families. The consistency of results across these fo ur cohorts supports the localization of a quantitative trait locus influenc ing obesity to human chromosome region 10p12.