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A common biological basis of obesity and nicotine addiction

  • T. E. Thorgeirsson*
  • , D. F. Gudbjartsson
  • , P. Sulem
  • , S. Besenbacher
  • , U. Styrkarsdottir
  • , G. Thorleifsson
  • , G. B. Walters
  • , H. Furberg
  • , P. F. Sullivan
  • , J. Marchini
  • , M. I. McCarthy
  • , V. Steinthorsdottir
  • , U. Thorsteinsdottir
  • , K. Stefansson
  • , Ida Surakka
  • , Jacqueline M. Vink
  • , Najaf Amin
  • , Frank Geller
  • , Thorunn Rafnar
  • , Toñu Esko
  • Stefan Walter, Christian Gieger, Rajesh Rawal, Massimo Mangino, Inga Prokopenko, Reedik Mägi, Kaisu Keskitalo, Iris H. Gudjonsdottir, Solveig Gretarsdottir, Hreinn Stefansson, Yurii S. Aulchenko, Mari Nelis, Katja K. Aben, Martin Den Heijer, Nicole Soranzo, Ana M. Valdes, Claire Steves, André G. Uitterlinden, Albert Hofman, Anke Tönjes, Peter Kovacs, Jouke Jan Hottenga, Gonneke Willemsen, Nicole Vogelzangs, Angela Döring, Norbert Dahmen, Barbara Nitz, Samuli Ripatti, Markus Perola, Johannes Kettunen, Anna Liisa Hartikainen, Anneli Pouta, Jaana Laitinen, Matti Isohanni, Shen Huei-Yi, Maxine Allen, Maria Krestyaninova, Alistair S. Hall, John R. Thompson, Hogni Oskarsson, Thorarinn Tyrfingsson, Lambertus A. Kiemeney, Marjo Riitta Järvelin, Veikko Salomaa, Michael Stumvoll, Tim D. Spector, H. Erich Wichmann, Andres Metspalu, Nilesh J. Samani, Brenda W. Penninx, Ben A. Oostra, Dorret I. Boomsma, Henning Tiemeier, Cornelia M. Van Duijn, Jaakko Kaprio, Jeffrey R. Gulcher, Yun Jung Kim, Jennifer Dackor, Eric Boerwinkle, Nora Franceschini, Diego Ardissino, Luisa Bernardinelli, Pier M. Mannucci, Francesco Mauri, Piera A. Merlini, Devin Absher, Themistocles L. Assimes, Stephen P. Fortmann, Carlos Iribarren, Joshua W. Knowles, Thomas Quertermous, Luigi Ferrucci, Toshiko Tanaka, Joshua C. Bis, Curt D. Furberg, Talin Haritunians, Barbara McKnight, Bruce M. Psaty, Kent D. Taylor, Evan L. Thacker, Peter Almgren, Leif Groop, Claes Ladenvall, Michael Boehnke, Anne U. Jackson, Karen L. Mohlke, Heather M. Stringham, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Emelia J. Benjamin, Shih Jen Hwang, Daniel Levy, Sarah Rosner Preis, Ramachandran S. Vasan, Jubao Duan, Pablo V. Gejman, Douglas F. Levinson, Alan R. Sanders, Jianxin Shi, Esther H. Lips, James D. McKay, Antonio Agudo, Luigi Barzan, Vladimir Bencko, Simone Benhamou, Xavier Castellsagué, Cristina Canova, David I. Conway, Eleonora Fabianova, Lenka Foretova, Vladimir Janout, Claire M. Healy, Ivana Holcátová, Kristina Kjaerheim, Pagona Lagiou, Jolanta Lissowska, Ray Lowry, Tatiana V. Macfarlane, Dana Mates, Lorenzo Richiardi, Peter Rudnai, Neonilia Szeszenia-Dabrowska, David Zaridze, Ariana Znaor, Mark Lathrop, Paul Brennan, Stefania Bandinelli, Timothy M. Frayling, Jack M. Guralnik, Yuri Milaneschi, John R.B. Perry, David Altshuler, Roberto Elosua, Sek Kathiresan, Gavin Lucas, Olle Melander, Christopher J. O'Donnell, Stephen M. Schwartz, Benjamin F. Voight, Johannes H. Smit, Eco J.C. De Geus, Stephen J. Chanock, Fangyi Gu, Susan E. Hankinson, David J. Hunter, Daniel I. Chasman, Brendan M. Everett, Guillaume Paré, Paul M. Ridker, Ming D. Li, Hermine H. Maes, Janet Audrain-McGovern, Danielle Posthuma, Laura M. Thornton, Caryn Lerman, Jed E. Rose, John P.A. Ioannidis, Peter Kraft, Dan Yu Lin, Jason S. Liu, Federica Tozzi, Dawn M. Waterworth, Sreekumar G. Pillai, Pierandrea Muglia, Lefkos Middleton, Wade Berrettini, Christopher W. Knouff, Xin Yuan, Gérard Waeber, Peter Vollenweider, Martin Preisig, Nicholas J. Wareham, Jing Hua Zhao, Ruth J.F. Loos, Inês Barroso, Kay Tee Khaw, Scott Grundy, Philip Barter, Robert Mahley, Antero Kesaniemi, Ruth McPherson, John Vincent, John Strauss, James Kennedy, Anne Farmer, Peter McGuffin, Richard Day, Keith Matthews, Per Bakke, Amund Gulsvik, Susanne Lucae, Marcus Ising, Tanja Brueckl, Sonja Horstmann, Joachim Heinrich, Claudia Lamina, Ozren Polasek, Lina Zgaga, Jennifer Huffman, Susan Campbell, Jaspal Kooner, John C. Chambers, Mary Susan Burnett, Joe Devaney, Augusto D. Pichard, Kenneth M. Kent, Lowell Satler, Joseph M. Lindsay, Ron Waksman, Stephen Epstein, Jim F. Wilson, Sarah H. Wild, Harry Campbell, Veronique Vitart, Muredach P. Reilly, Mingyao Li, Liming Qu, Robert Wilensky, William Matthai, Hakon H. Hakonarson, Daniel J. Rader, Andre Franke, Michael Wittig, Arne Schäfer, Manuela Uda, Antonio Terracciano, Xiangjun Xiao, Fabio Busonero, Paul Scheet, David Schlessinger, David St Clair, Dan Rujescu, Gonçalo R. Abecasis, Hans Jörgen Grabe, Alexander Teumer, Henry Völzke, Astrid Petersmann, Ulrich John, Igor Rudan, Caroline Hayward, Alan F. Wright, Ivana Kolcic, Benjamin J. Wright, Anthony J. Balmforth, Carl A. Anderson, Tariq Ahmed, Christopher G. Mathew, Miles Parkes, Jack Satsangi, Mark Caulfield, Patricia B. Munroe, Martin Farrall, Anna Dominiczak, Jane Worthington, Wendy Thomson, Steve Eyre, Anne Barton, Vincent Mooser, Clyde Francks
*Corresponding author for this work
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Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Smoking influences body weight such that smokers weigh less than non-smokers and smoking cessation often leads to weight increase. The relationship between body weight and smoking is partly explained by the effect of nicotine on appetite and metabolism. However, the brain reward system is involved in the control of the intake of both food and tobacco. We evaluated the effect of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affecting body mass index (BMI) on smoking behavior, and tested the 32 SNPs identified in a meta-analysis for association with two smoking phenotypes, smoking initiation (SI) and the number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) in an Icelandic sample (N=34 216 smokers). Combined according to their effect on BMI, the SNPs correlate with both SI (r=0.019, P=0.00054) and CPD (r=0.032, P=8.0 × 10-7). These findings replicate in a second large data set (N=127 274, thereof 76 242 smokers) for both SI (P=1.2 × 10-5) and CPD (P=9.3 × 10-5). Notably, the variant most strongly associated with BMI (rs1558902-A in FTO) did not associate with smoking behavior. The association with smoking behavior is not due to the effect of the SNPs on BMI. Our results strongly point to a common biological basis of the regulation of our appetite for tobacco and food, and thus the vulnerability to nicotine addiction and obesity.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere308
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
JournalTranslational Psychiatry
Volume3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Addiction
  • body mass index
  • nicotine dependence
  • obesity
  • smoking

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