{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "811376166b9e4ba485988f33d9d78bc8", "timestamp": "2026-08-20T20:58:05.579Z", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/811376166b9e4ba485988f33d9d78bc8.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/publication/811376166b9e4ba485988f33d9d78bc8"}}, "title": "Contribution of genetics to visceral adiposity and its relation to cardiovascular and metabolic disease.", "authors": [{"family": "Karlsson", "given": "Torgny", "initials": "T", "orcid": "0000-0001-8095-6149", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/c8b2bb8ecf4545ad946ae2203c870282.json"}}, {"family": "Rask-Andersen", "given": "Mathias", "initials": "M"}, {"family": "Pan", "given": "Gang", "initials": "G"}, {"family": "H\u00f6glund", "given": "Julia", "initials": "J"}, {"family": "Wadelius", "given": "Claes", "initials": "C"}, {"family": "Ek", "given": "Weronica E", "initials": "WE"}, {"family": "Johansson", "given": "\u00c5sa", "initials": "\u00c5", "orcid": "0000-0002-2915-4498", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications-affiliated.scilifelab.se/researcher/a0bac3e1e64949fcbac4b4d839e1144d.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2019-09-00", "journal": {"title": "Nat. Med.", "issn": "1546-170X", "volume": "25", "issue": "9", "pages": "1390-1395", "issn-l": "1078-8956"}, "abstract": "Visceral adipose tissue (VAT)-fat stored around the internal organs-has been suggested as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic disease1-3, as well as all-cause, cardiovascular-specific and cancer-specific mortality4,5. Yet, the contribution of genetics to VAT, as well as its disease-related effects, are largely unexplored due to the requirement for advanced imaging technologies to accurately measure VAT. Here, we develop sex-stratified, nonlinear prediction models (coefficient of determination = 0.76; typical 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.74-0.78) for VAT mass using the UK Biobank cohort. We performed a genome-wide association study for predicted VAT mass and identified 102 novel visceral adiposity loci. Predicted VAT mass was associated with increased risk of hypertension, heart attack/angina, type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia, and Mendelian randomization analysis showed visceral fat to be a causal risk factor for all four diseases. In particular, a large difference in causal effect between the sexes was found for type 2 diabetes, with an odds ratio of 7.34 (95% CI = 4.48-12.0) in females and an odds ratio of 2.50 (95% CI = 1.98-3.14) in males. Our findings bolster the role of visceral adiposity as a potentially independent risk factor, in particular for type 2 diabetes in Caucasian females. Independent validation in other cohorts is necessary to determine whether the findings can translate to other ethnicities, or outside the UK.", "doi": "10.1038/s41591-019-0563-7", "pmid": "31501611", "labels": [], "xrefs": [{"db": "pii", "key": "10.1038/s41591-019-0563-7"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-08-20T09:01:44.821Z", "modified": "2026-08-20T09:01:44.867Z"}