Genetic Indicators Of Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Constantin Polychronakos and colleagues used high-density arrays to look for the occurrence of over 390,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) - particular regions of DNA containing a single base-pair change - in the genomes of over 2,000 patients with type 2 diabetes and more than 2,000 controls. They identified four different SNP-containing regions that conferred a significant risk to developing the disease, and confirmed an already known association between the TCF7L2 gene and type 2 diabetes. These five genetic regions together might account for 70% of the genetic risk, the authors say.

The important variants occur in genes related to the control of insulin secretion and pancreatic development. One gene encodes a protein that helps move zinc ions around and is found solely in the secretory vesicles of beta-cells, which make and release insulin. The finding, published online by Nature, has possible dietary implications and hints that therapies targeting zinc may be worth a shot.

Author contact:

Constantin Polychronakos (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Canada)
E-mail: constantin.polychronakos@mcgill.ca

Nelson B. Freimer (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
E-mail: nfreimer@mednet.ucla.edu (N&V author)

(C) Nature press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza