Letter to the Editor: Comments on “Obesity associated with a novel mitochondrial tRNACys m.5802A>G mutation in a Chinese family”

In a recent article Wang et al. reported about a 9-year-old Chinese male with obesity, insulin resistance, acanthosis nigricans, hyperuricemia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFD) being attributed to the variant m.5802A>G in tRNA(Cys) (Bioscience Reports (2020) 40(1), BSR20192153). Pathogenicity of the variant was substantiated by documentation of perturbed stability and mobility of the tRNA(Cys). The interesting study has a number of shortcomings, which do not allow drawing conclusions as provided before they are solved. Obesity is multifactorial and many differential causes of mtDNA variants were not discussed or excluded.