Obesity has become a public health problem worldwide. Compared with Europe, people in Asia tend to suffer from type 2 diabetes with a lower body mass index (BMI). Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified over 750 loci associated with obesity. Although the majority of GWAS results were conducted in individuals of European ancestry, a recent GWAS in individuals of Asian ancestry has made a significant contribution to the identification of obesity susceptibility loci. Indeed, owing to the multifactorial character of obesity with a strong environmental component, the revealed loci may have distinct contributions in different ancestral genetic backgrounds and in different environments as presented through diet and exercise among other factors. Uncovering novel, yet unrevealed genes in non-European ancestries may further contribute to explaining the missing heritability for BMI. In this review, we aimed to summarize recent advances in obesity genetics in individuals of Asian ancestry. We therefore compared proposed mechanisms underlying susceptibility loci for obesity associated with individuals of European and Asian ancestries and discussed whether known genetic variants might explain ethnic differences in obesity risk. We further acknowledged that GWAS implemented in individuals of Asian ancestries have not only validated the potential role of previously specified obesity susceptibility loci but also exposed novel ones, which have been missed in the initial genetic studies in individuals of European ancestries. Thus, multi-ethnic studies have a great potential not only to contribute to a better understanding of the complex etiology of human obesity but also potentially of ethnic differences in the prevalence of obesity, which may ultimately pave new avenues in more targeted and personalized obesity treatments.

肥胖已成为全球性的公共卫生问题。与欧洲相比，亚洲人更容易患 2 型糖尿病，且体重指数 (BMI) 较低。全基因组关联研究 (GWAS) 已确定超过 750 个与肥胖相关的基因座。尽管大多数 GWAS 结果是在欧洲血统个体中进行的，但最近对亚洲血统个体进行的 GWAS 对肥胖易感性位点的识别做出了重大贡献。事实上，由于肥胖的多因素特征和强烈的环境因素，所揭示的基因座可能在不同的祖先遗传背景和通过饮食和运动等因素呈现的不同环境中具有不同的贡献。在非欧洲血统中发现新颖但尚未公开的基因可能会进一步有助于解释体重指数缺失的遗传性。在这篇综述中，我们旨在总结亚洲血统个体肥胖遗传学的最新进展。因此，我们比较了与欧洲和亚洲血统个体相关的肥胖易感位点的拟议机制，并讨论了已知的遗传变异是否可以解释肥胖风险的种族差异。我们进一步承认，在亚洲血统个体中实施的 GWAS 不仅验证了先前指定的肥胖易感性位点的潜在作用，而且还暴露了新的基因位点，而这些基因位点在欧洲血统个体的初始遗传研究中被遗漏了。 因此，多种族研究具有巨大的潜力，不仅有助于更好地了解人类肥胖的复杂病因，而且有助于了解肥胖患病率的种族差异，这最终可能为更有针对性和个性化的肥胖治疗开辟新途径。