Introduction:

Obesity is a metabolic disease characterized by an increase in the body mass index. The risk of obesity depends on environmental factors, lifestyle and the presence of genetic variants caused by single mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Studies have shown the importance of ethnicity in the heritability of genetic variants associated with the development of obesity. In Mexico, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is 38.8% and 32.4%, respectively.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to determine SNPs that have a distinctive influence on the development of obesity in Mexicans.

Materials and Methods. A bibliographical study was carried out in the Pubmed database and 70 papers were found that study the association of different SNPs with the development of obesity in Mexicans.

Results:

The SNPs rs17782313 (MC4R), rs6548238 (TMEM18), rs6265 (BDNF) and rs7488665 (SH2B1) with a differential behavior with respect to the results obtained in the Caucasian population, and the SNPs rs6232 of the PCSK1 gene associated with the appearance of obesity in youth in the Mexican population.

Conclusions:

Concluding that the detailed characterization of the genes with the highest incidence in the different ethnic groups contributes to establish personalized strategies in particular of the Mexican population and that allow the development of a highly sensitive system to determine susceptibility to obesity.