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Genetic predeterminants of diabetes in blacks identified
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Researchers identified inherited genetic variations between black and white Americans that may lead to less efficient glucose metabolism and predisposition to diabetes in blacks.
“We found gene expression profiles that suggest carbohydrate metabolism should be different in [blacks] in our population compared [with whites],” Cam Patterson, MD, of the division of cardiology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said in a press release.
Patterson and colleagues identified 151 differentially expressed genes between blacks and whites that were associated with glucose and glucose metabolism; the majority of the genes were identified in black patients.
Several of these genes control the metabolism of simple carbohydrates and are direct targets for SREBP1, a metabolic transcription factor also differentially expressed between the study populations.
The researchers assessed different transcriptional signals associated with cardiovascular disease susceptibility and ancestry in 163 adults aged 18 to 50 years. Participants were enrolled in phase 1 of the Supporting a Multi-disciplinary Approach to Researching Atherosclerosis study (SAMARA).
Using genetic/genomic and bioinformatics approaches, the researchers identified a large number of genes that were both differentially expressed between Americans who self-identified as of African or European ancestry and that also contained single nucleotide polymorphisms that distinguish distantly related ancestral populations.
When the researchers included algorithms for identifying transcription factor binding sites in the promoter region of differentially expressed genes, they identified improvements in binding sites (P≤.02) of AML6, HNF3-alpha, E2F1 and SREBP1.
“This may be a reflection of an environment where the diet for blacks may have been significantly different than that of whites,” the researchers wrote.
“This study raises the question: Are there other examples of groups of gene changes that might be protective under some environments or nutritional scenarios and maladaptive under others? The practical value of this is providing a tool for looking for these sorts of things,” Patterson said. “We can’t ignore the value of this type of knowledge.”
The researchers concluded that more “focused studies are needed to determine and identify the contribution of genetics to dietary responses, in particular, [patients] at high risk for multifactorial diseases such as CVD and diabetes.”
Schisler JC. PLoS One. 2009; 4:e8183.
