Seven new genetic regions linked to type 2 diabetes

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Feb-2014

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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.

DNA data was brought together from more than 48,000 patients and 139,000 healthy controls from four different ethnic groups. The research was conducted by an international consortium of investigators from 20 countries on four continents, co-led by investigators from Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics.

The majority of such 'genome-wide association studies' have been done in populations with European backgrounds. This research is notable for including DNA data from populations of Asian and Hispanic origin as well.

The researchers believe that, as more genetic data increasingly become available from populations of South Asian ancestry and, particularly, African descent, it will be possible to map genes implicated in type 2 diabetes ever more closely.

'One of the striking features of these data is how much of the genetic variation that influences diabetes is shared between major ethnic groups,' says Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Professor Mark McCarthy from the University of Oxford. 'This has allowed us to combine data from more than 50 studies from across the globe to discover new genetic regions affecting risk of diabetes.'

He adds: '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.'

Among the regions identified by the international research team are two, near the genes ARL15 and RREB1, that also show strong links to elevated levels of insulin and glucose in the body two key characteristics of type 2 diabetes. This finding provides insights into the ways basic biochemical processes are involved in the risk of type 2 diabetes, the scientists say.

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Seven new genetic regions linked to type 2 diabetes