Genetic Influences on the Response of Body Fat and Fat Distribution to Positive and Negative Energy Balances in Human Identical Twins

This article summarizes a series of intervention studies conducted with pairs of young adult male identical twins and designed to determine whether there is any evidence for genotype × overfeeding or genotype × negative energy balance interaction effects in the changes in body weight, body composition, fat distribution, computerized tomography–assessed abdominal visceral fat, resting metabolic rate and thermic response to a standardized meal of mixed composition brought about by chronic exposure to appropriate experimental treatments. These studies demonstrated that individual differences in response to chronic alterations in energy balance are common. The comparison of the heterogeneity in response between the pairs of twins in contrast to the variance within pairs revealed that members of the same twin pair are significantly more alike than individuals who are not genetically related by descent. The intrapair resemblance in response was particularly strong for the changes in body mass, body composition, subcutaneous fat distribution and abdominal visceral fat. In contrast, the results of two long-term intervention studies showed that variations in resting metabolic rate following exposure to chronic overfeeding or negative energy balance induced by exercise were accounted for primarily by the changes in body mass. Finally, the thermic response to food was not modified by any of the experimental treatments. On the basis of these observations, we conclude that there are individuals at risk of gaining weight and body fat or who are resistant to weight loss. These differences in susceptibility to chronic overfeeding or in sensitivity to negative energy balance seem to be largely explained by genetic factors whose exact nature remains to be determined.