New Discovery of Four More Genetic Variants Involved
in Type 2 Diabetes
This brings total to 16 for diabetes - one
has link with prostate cancer
April 1, 2008 – An unprecedented analysis of
genetic data from over 70,000 people has identified six more genetic
variants involved in type 2 diabetes. That brings the number to 16 of
genetic risk factors associated with increased risk of the disease. None
of the new variants had previously been suspected of playing a role in
type 2 diabetes. Intriguingly, the new variant most strongly associated
with type 2 diabetes also was recently implicated in a very different
condition: prostate cancer.
Thiazolidinediones medications (including rosiglitazone
(Avandia)
produced a significantly increased risk of heart attack, congestive
heart failure and death
The discovery was reported by an international team
that included scientists from the National Human Genome Research
Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It
was published yesterday in the advance online edition of Nature
Genetics.
The work was carried out through the collaborative
efforts of more than 90 researchers at more than 40 centers in Europe
and North America.
"None of the genes we have found was previously on
the radar screen of diabetes researchers," said one of the paper’s
senior authors, Mark McCarthy, M.D., of the University of Oxford in
England.
"Each of these genes, therefore, provides new clues
to the processes that go wrong when diabetes develops, and each provides
an opportunity for the generation of new approaches for treating or
preventing this condition."
When considered individually, the genetic variants
discovered to date account for only small differences in the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes. But researchers say when all of the variants
are analyzed together, some significant differences in risk are likely
to emerge.
"By combining information from the large number of
genes now implicated in diabetes risk, it may be possible to use genetic
tools to identify people at unusually high or low risk of diabetes,"
said another senior author, David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., of
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the Broad Institute of
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.
“However, until we know how to use this information
to prompt beneficial changes in people’s treatment or lifestyle,
widespread genetic testing would be premature.”
Type 2 diabetes affects more than 200 million
people worldwide, including nearly 21 million people in the U.S.
Previously known as adult-onset, or non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM),
type 2 diabetes usually appears after age 40, often in overweight,
sedentary people.
However, a growing number of younger people and
even children are developing the disease.
Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and
stroke in U.S. adults, as well as the most common cause of blindness,
kidney failure and amputations not related to trauma.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the resistance
of target tissues to respond to insulin, which controls glucose levels
in the blood; and a gradual failure of insulin-secreting cells in the
pancreas.
"These new variants, along with other recent
genetic findings, provide a window into disease causation that may be
our best hope for the next generation of therapeutics. By pinpointing
particular pathways involved in diabetes risk, these discoveries can
empower new approaches to understanding environmental influences and to
the development of new, more precisely targeted drugs," said NHGRI
Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., who is a co-author of the
study.
Dr. Collins' laboratory is a participant in the
Finrisk 2002 and Finland-United States Investigation of NIDDM Genetics
(FUSION), which were among the studies that contributed data to the new
analysis. FUSION is funded by NHGRI’s Division of Intramural Research
and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(NIDDK).
Researchers said more work is needed to understand
the impact of their discovery that a genetic variant called JAZF1
appears to be involved in diabetes as well as prostate cancer.
Knowledge about genomic medicine way ahead of
incorporating it into clinical practice
Link to video in news story.
March 19, 208 – Using genomic medicine to treat or
even prevent chronic diseases cannot develop fast enough for millions of
senior citizens – the adults most likely to have such devastating
diseases. But, there is a bottleneck between what knowledge is available
about genomic medicine and incorporating it into clinical practice for
assessing the risk and battling such diseases as cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, and cancer, according to a systematic review in the Journal of
the American Medical Association.
Read more...
One of the study’s lead authors, Eleftheria
Zeggini, Ph.D., of the University of Oxford, said, "This is now the
second example of a gene which affects both type 2 diabetes and prostate
cancer. We don’t yet know what the connections are, but this may have
important implications for the future design of drugs for both of these
conditions."
The research was conducted by the DIAbetes Genetics
Replication And Meta-analysis (DIAGRAM) consortium, which brought
together many groups active in the field of diabetes research.
In the Nature Genetics paper, DIAGRAM researchers
combined the data from three previously published genome-wide
association studies in an effort to boost the statistical power of their
searches — an approach that scientists refer to as meta-analysis. The
strategy paid off, enabling researchers to identify six genetic variants
associated with type 2 diabetes that had gone undetected in the smaller,
individual studies.
NHGRI is one of 27 institutes and centers at NIH,
an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI
Division of Intramural Research develops and implements technology to
understand, diagnose and treat genomic and genetic diseases. For more,
visit
www.genome.gov.
NIDDK, part of NIH, conducts and supports research
on diabetes; endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases,
nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases.
Spanning the full spectrum of medicine and afflicting people of all ages
and ethnic groups, these diseases encompass some of the most common,
severe, and disabling conditions affecting Americans. For more
information about NIDDK and its programs, see
www.niddk.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The
Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers
and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,
clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the
causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For
more information about NIH and its programs, visit
www.nih.gov.
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