CREBRF variant increases obesity risk and protects against diabetes in Samoans.

A genome-wide study in Samoans has identified a protein-altering variant (p.Arg475Gln) in CREBRF as being associated with 1.3-fold increased risk of obesity and, intriguingly, 1.6-fold decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. This variant, which is common among Samoans (minor allele frequency = 26%) but extremely rare in other populations, promotes fat storage and reduces energy use in cellular models.