In Pursuit of a Biomarker of Weight Gain Susceptibility-Is FGF21 a Candidate?

摘要

In our westernized obesogenic environment plagued by an overabundance of calorie-dense food and physical inactivity, obesity has become a highly prevalent condition and a major concern to public health. Interestingly, the predisposition for weight gain varies among people despite similar environmental exposures or familial traits (1). While eating less and moving more are obvious remedies for obesity, such therapeutic strategies often fall short of what is expected from affected patients. Many claim that the obesity epidemic should be tackled by prevention, especially if a simple clinical test or established biomarker can identify individuals with a high susceptibility for weight gain.