[Genes and obesity: a cause and effect relationship].

The International Task Force on Obesity (IOTF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have defined obesity as a 21st century epidemic. In countries with economies in transition and even in some urban areas in developing countries, progressive increase in obesity has been reported to be an emerging problem in recent years. Its causes include lifestyle changing, particularly consumption of high-calorie food, as well as an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. However, the genetic origin of obesity is well known and currently proven. Obesity usually results from interaction of certain gene polymorphisms with environment. Moreover, only a small number of cases of obesity (5%) result from mutations in specific genes (monogenic obesity), causing in some cases Mendelian syndromes with a very low incidence in the population. One hundred and thirty genes related to obesity have been reported, some of which are involved in coding of peptide transmitting hunger and satiety signals, while others are involved in adipocyte growth and differentiation processes, and still others are involved in regulation of energy expenditure. In addition, obesity is a chronic inflammatory state. In this regard, altered expression of genes related to insulin metabolism and adipose tissue inflammation is a basic process which may explain the etiology of obesity.