Prior studies have shown that indices of body fat distribution, including waist circumference, VAT, and SAT are heritable [20], [29]–[31]. A recent large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 14 loci in association with waist-hip-ratio [32], providing proof-of-principle for the concept that genetic variants are associated with body fat distribution above and beyond generalized adiposity. However, there are currently no large-scale GWAS for directly-measured VAT and SAT. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to perform GWAS for VAT and SAT in 4 large population-based cohorts. We analyzed SAT, VAT, VAT adjusted for BMI, and the VAT/SAT ratio, a metric of the propensity to store fat viscerally as compared to subcutaneously. Given the known sex differences in body fat distribution [33], we additionally performed sex-specific analyses.
