Reis Victor Machado, Machado João V, Fortes Marcos S, Fernandes Paula Roquetti, Silva António José, Dantas Paulo Silva, Filho José Fernandes
Department of Sport Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Apartadao, Villa Real, Portugal.
J Physiol Anthropol. 2007 Jan;26(1):9-14. doi: 10.2114/jpa2.26.9.
The influence of genetics on human physique and obesity has been addressed by the literature. Evidence for heritability of anthropometric characteristics has been previously described, mainly for the body mass index (BMI). However, few studies have investigated the influence of genetics on the Heath-Carter somatotype. The aim of the present study was to assess the heritability of BMI and somatotype (endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy) in a group of female monozygotic and dizygotic twins from childhood to early adulthood. A total of 28 females aged from 7 to 19 years old were studied. The group included 5 monozygotic and 9 dizygotic pairs of twins. The heritability was assessed by the twin method (h(2)). The anthropometric measures and somatotype were assessed using standard validated procedures. Significant differences between monozygotic and dizygotic pairs of twins were found for height, endomorphy, ectomorphy, and mesomorphy, and the heritability for these measures was high (h(2) between 0.88 and 0.97). No significant differences were found between monozygotic and dizygotic twins for weight, and the BMI and the heritability indexes were lower for these measures (respectively 0.42 and 0.52). The results of the present study have indicated that the somatotype may be more sensible to genetic influences than the BMI in females.
遗传学对人类体型和肥胖的影响已被文献提及。此前已有关于人体测量特征遗传性的证据描述，主要针对体重指数（BMI）。然而，很少有研究调查遗传学对希思-卡特体型的影响。本研究的目的是评估一组从儿童期到成年早期的女性同卵和异卵双胞胎中BMI和体型（内胚层体型、中胚层体型和外胚层体型）的遗传性。共研究了28名年龄在7至19岁的女性。该组包括5对同卵双胞胎和9对异卵双胞胎。通过双胞胎方法（h(2)）评估遗传性。使用标准的有效程序评估人体测量指标和体型。在身高、内胚层体型、外胚层体型和中胚层体型方面，同卵和异卵双胞胎对之间存在显著差异，这些指标的遗传性较高（h(2)在0.88至0.97之间）。在体重方面，同卵和异卵双胞胎之间未发现显著差异，这些指标的BMI和遗传指数较低（分别为0.42和0.52）。本研究结果表明，在女性中，体型可能比BMI对遗传影响更敏感。
