New genetic regions associated with type 2 diabetes: Study

Seven new genetic regions associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified in the largest study to date of the genetic basis of the disease.

Scientists from over 20 countries collaborated on this investigation, co-led by researchers from Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics. Most research up to this point has been done in populations with European backgrounds. This study, however, pooled DNA data from over 48,000 patients and 139,000 healthy controls from four different ethnic groups, including people of Asian and Hispanic origin.

This international investigation took into account over 3 million DNA variants to better measure which ones have an impact on type 2 diabetes risk. Using data with such a large sample size made it easier to detect, for the first time ever, the regions that are susceptible to the effects of diabetes, many of which are rather miniscule and thereby hard to identify.

This study is also more ethnically diverse than prior ones - a difference that, the researchers believe, make it possible to link more closely the genes involved in type 2 diabetes.

Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Professor Mark McCarthy from the University of Oxford commented on the research's unique diversity, saying: "One of the striking features of these data is how much of the genetic variation that influences diabetes is shared between major ethnic groups."

He continued: "The overlap in signals between populations of European, Asian and Hispanic origin argues that the risk regions we have found to date do not explain the clear differences in the patterns of diabetes between those groups."

Two key characteristics of diabetes are increased levels of insulin and glucose in the body. The regions near the genes ARL15 and RREB1 show strong links to these hallmarks, and thereby provide insight into the role basic biochemical processes play in the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to the research team.

Principal investigator Dr. Andrew Morris explains that this research applies to much more than diabetes.

"By combining genetic data from different ethnic groups, we would expect also to be able identify new DNA variants influencing risk of heart disease and some forms of cancer, for example, which are shared across ethnic groups. It has the potential to have a major impact on global public health."