KCNQ1 and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Given that patients with obesity and T2D are more likely to have lower levels of HDL-C and large prospective studies have identified HDL-C as a strong, independent, inverse predictor of risk of CVD [33], the strong association of KCNQ1 variant with HDL-C in our pediatric population may provide a novel insight of the link between KCNQ1 and early risk in the pathogenesis of T2D and CVD.