We blog frequently about the risk factors for diabetes, and if you've noticed, they are wide and varied. From food consumption, environmental atmosphere, and family history, anything and everything it seems can be a risk factor for developing diabetes.
New research from an international team of doctors provides one of the most interesting explanations for the prevalence of diabetes in the Latino community. If you're thinking it has to do with your family tree, you'd be correct. But you'd have to go back thousands of generations to find the cause.
Harvard geneticist David Altshuler and colleagues found hints that humans got the diabetes gene mutation from Neanderthals, our ancient cousins who went extinct more than 30,000 years ago.
"As far as I know, this is the first time a version of a gene from Neanderthal has been connected to a modern-day disease," Altshuler told Shots. The findings were published in the journal Nature.
Several years ago geneticists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany caused a stir in the scientific community when they were able to sequence the genome of a Neanderthal from a fossil. In that genetic code were patterns that matched those in human DNA. The data they found suggested that humans were more than a little friendly with their Neanderthal cousins.
"Now it's well accepted that humans interbred with Neanderthals," Altshuler said. In our genome, most humans carry at least 2% of Neanderthal DNA. So therefore, it shouldn't be surprising to us that some of our traits and health comes from that 2%.
Altshuler is quick to point out that Neanderthals didn't necessarily have diabetes. "It just happens that this disease sequence came from them," he said.
Altshuler and his research team analyzed DNA from over 8,000 residents of Mexico and people who have lived in Latin America, in order to identify the genes that contribute to the Latino community having a higher risk of diabetes. Most of the participants had a mix of European and Native American ancestry.
The team found genes already identified as having an effect on diabetes, including insulin production. However, they found a new one that's involved with fat metabolism.
Mutations in this particular gene increase a person's risk of getting type 2 diabetes by at least 20%, said Altshuler. If the person is unlucky enough to have two copies of the mutation, their risk rises to 40%. For Mexican Americans, the risk jumps from 13% to 19% if they have two copies of the mutation. For other Americans, the risk goes from 8% to 11%.
"This is a genetic factor that has a modest affect on the risk of getting the disease. Not everybody that has it will have the disease," Altshuler said. "But the genes are very common in Latinos and Asians."
Roughly half of Latinos carry the mutation, while 20% of Asians have it. Contrasted to European Americans, just 2% have the mutation. So this new genetic data will hopefully explain the difference in Type 2 prevalence in Latinos versus European Americans.
"The findings are important because they give us a new biological clue about a gene involved in diabetes, which could lead to more treatments," Altshuler said. "The Neanderthal connection is interesting, but it's not the essence of the work."
Reference: NPR
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Showing posts with label is diabetes genetic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label is diabetes genetic. Show all posts
Monday, February 17, 2014
Monday, February 18, 2013
New Research Provides Insight In Diabetes Gene
Diabetes researchers at Lund University in Sweden have been able to reveal more of the genetic complexity behind Type 2 diabetes.
The new research findings were achieved through access to human insulin-producing cells from deceased donors and by not only studying one gene variant, but many genes. New methods were used to see how these genes influence the level of the gene in pancreatic islets and their effect on insulin secretion and glucose supply.
"With this approach, we can explain 25 percent of variations in blood sugar levels. Previously, the best studies have explained less than 3 percent," says Leif Groop from Lund University Diabetes Centre, the principal author of the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The results of the study provide greater insights into why, in cases of Type 2 diabetes, beta cells cease to perform their function of producing sufficient insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control.
"We have linked different gene variants to their effects on donated human beta cells and have compared cells from non-diabetic and diabetics," said Professor Groop.
The starting point for researchers was the 47 known gene variants that have a link to diabetes. "We used them as 'bait' to find new signal paths and chain of events where the 47 variants work together with other genes. We have to map patterns because a single gene rarely acts on its own," continued Groop.
To pick out the 20 strongest gene variants, criteria included a difference between beta cells from healthy individuals and diabetics and a link to insulin secretion and blood sugar levels. The goal of the study was to understand the relationship between gene variants and diabetes.
"By taking a new and more holistic approach, we have gone a step further than previous projects and succeeded in linking together gene variants and their signal paths in human beta cells that cause reduced insulin secretion. The next step is to look in more detail at the way in which the strongest genes affect insulin secretion," said Groop.
If you are a diabetic and do not currently see a podiatrist, call our Bristol office to make an appointment.
Richard E. Ehle, DPM
Connecticut Foot Care Centers
Diabetic Foot Care in CT
Podiatrist in Bristol, CT
Visit our website, friend and like our page on Facebook, and follow my tweets on Twitter.
The new research findings were achieved through access to human insulin-producing cells from deceased donors and by not only studying one gene variant, but many genes. New methods were used to see how these genes influence the level of the gene in pancreatic islets and their effect on insulin secretion and glucose supply.
"With this approach, we can explain 25 percent of variations in blood sugar levels. Previously, the best studies have explained less than 3 percent," says Leif Groop from Lund University Diabetes Centre, the principal author of the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The results of the study provide greater insights into why, in cases of Type 2 diabetes, beta cells cease to perform their function of producing sufficient insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control.
"We have linked different gene variants to their effects on donated human beta cells and have compared cells from non-diabetic and diabetics," said Professor Groop.
The starting point for researchers was the 47 known gene variants that have a link to diabetes. "We used them as 'bait' to find new signal paths and chain of events where the 47 variants work together with other genes. We have to map patterns because a single gene rarely acts on its own," continued Groop.
To pick out the 20 strongest gene variants, criteria included a difference between beta cells from healthy individuals and diabetics and a link to insulin secretion and blood sugar levels. The goal of the study was to understand the relationship between gene variants and diabetes.
"By taking a new and more holistic approach, we have gone a step further than previous projects and succeeded in linking together gene variants and their signal paths in human beta cells that cause reduced insulin secretion. The next step is to look in more detail at the way in which the strongest genes affect insulin secretion," said Groop.
If you are a diabetic and do not currently see a podiatrist, call our Bristol office to make an appointment.
Richard E. Ehle, DPM
Connecticut Foot Care Centers
Diabetic Foot Care in CT
Podiatrist in Bristol, CT
Visit our website, friend and like our page on Facebook, and follow my tweets on Twitter.
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