Study across five ancestries finds new type 2 diabetes risk genes
Researchers from the PAGE and DIAGRAM Consortia analyzed 53,102 type 2 diabetes cases and 193,679 control subjects across African, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and European population groups. In African ancestry individuals they found a risk variant in the TGFB1 gene, which replicated in independent studies of African ancestry. They also found a variant in the BACE2 gene associated with risk across multiple ancestries, which likewise replicated. A genetic risk score built from the findings performed unevenly across groups: comparing people in the top risk category, the odds ratio was highest in Asian and European ancestry populations, followed by Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, and African ancestry populations.
A genetic risk score for type 2 diabetes does not predict risk the same way in every ancestry group, which points to a need for more genetics research in non-European populations.
Written by the Genomes desk from the primary source cited and linked above and checked against it. Research use only; not medical advice. Corrections: [email protected].