This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
More genetic risk factors for T2DM identified
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
More genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes have been discovered.
In one of the largest genetic studies to date, researchers from Diabetes Genetics Initiative, in collaboration with researchers from the U.K. and Finland, used genome-wide association to scan more than 32,000 people. Three novel regions of the genome that influence the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as a region that is linked with triglyceride levels, were identified and confirmed.
In all, at least eight clear genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes were identified, as well as several other probable risk factors that warrant further study.
“By identifying these genes, we are identifying potential loci for drug action and suggesting classes of compounds that might be useful to help develop drugs to treat diabetes,” said Michael Boehnke, PhD, from the University of Michigan.
“These findings point at unexpected and new mechanisms contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes,” said Leif Groop, a professor in the department of clinical sciences, diabetes and endocrinology at Lund University in Malmo, Sweden.
The data were published in Science.