In agreement with these animal studies, two human investigations have highlighted an association of CRTC1 polymorphisms with body mass index and fat mass, and have suggested that CRTC1 is involved in the high prevalence of overweight and obesity observed in psychiatric patients and in subjects from the general population with major depressive disorder22,23. The gene discussed is CRTC1; the disease is obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.