Genome-wide association studies suggest sex-specific loci associated with abdominal and visceral fat

Background: To identify loci associated with abdominal fat and replicate prior findings, we performed genome-wide association (GWA) studies of abdominal fat traits: subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT); visceral adipose tissue (VAT); total adipose tissue (TAT) and visceral to subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (VSR). Subjects and Methods: Sex-combined and sex-stratified analyses were performed on each trait with (TRAIT–BMI) or without (TRAIT) adjustment for body mass index (BMI), and cohort-specific results were combined via a fixed effects meta-analysis. A total of 2513 subjects of European descent were available for the discovery phase. For replication, 2171 European Americans and 772 African Americans were available. Results: A total of 52 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) encompassing 7 loci showed suggestive evidence of association ( P