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Investigators at Lund University in Malmö, Sweden, report findingcommon variants in three genes that predict the development of type 2diabetes.
The research, based on genetic analyses of more than 7,000 Swedes who werefollowed for an average of 22 years, was presented at the American DiabetesAssociation's 66th Scientific Sessions, held June 9–13 in Washington,D.C.
Subjects with variations of a gene identified as TCF7L2 had a diabetes riskabout 1.5 times greater than that of somebody without the trait, whilevariations of genes KCNJ11 and PPARG increased the risk of diabetes about 1.2times.
"Each of these [variant] genes is an independent predictor ofdiabetes," says Valeriya Lyssenko, MD, PhD, lead author of the study."Those who have two or more of the [variant] genes have addedrisk."
An individual with all three gene variants is 2.79 times more likely todevelop type 2 diabetes than someone with none of the markers, Lyssenkosays.
The relationship between genes and the development of diabetes is notentirely clear. KCNJ11 appears linked to body mass index (BMI): The greaterthe BMI of a person with the variant, the more likely he or she is to developdiabetes. TCF7L2 and PPARG work independently of body mass index (BMI),Lyssenko says.
TCF7L2 seems to influence glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucosetolerance test, while KCNJ11 "causes a modest impairment of insulinsecretion that becomes manifest in obese people," she says. PPARG alsois involved in insulin secretion.
With completion of the human genome sequence, research to determine thefunction and interrelationships between the 25,000 or so human genes and thehundreds of thousands of proteins they produce is accelerating. Scientists saythat elucidating how the genome functions will take decades, with discoveriestrickling into the medical literature over time.
In a recent issue of Science, an international group ofresearchers reported the discovery of a common genetic variant near a geneknown as INSIG2 that appears to be linked to adult and childhoodobesity.1 Analysissuggests that about 10% of individuals have the gene conferring apredisposition to obesity.
Lyssenko says research continues to validate the gene variants in largerpopulations and to identify other genes that may be involved in thedevelopment of diabetes.
The gene variants may be exploited to develop a screening or testing toolto determine patients at greater risk of type 2 diabetes and ultimately couldbe targets for drug therapy. 
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