EPO and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Full-heritage Pima Indians exhibit a high prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes (Smith et al., 1996; Pavkov et al., 2007), and assessment of endogenous plasma EPO level in a subset 79 individuals showed the expected negative association with hemoglobin (p = 0.005) (Reinhardt et al., 2016).