The Genetics Behind Diabetes

 Type 1

Up to 0.4% of children will be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes by the age of 30, making it the third most frequent form of pediatric chronic illness. It is brought on by the autoimmune death of beta cells in the pancreas, which leads to total dependence on insulin from outside sources. A genetic risk ratio of roughly 15 is associated with type 1 diabetes, which is connected to the MHC locus on chromosome 6p21. Type 1 diabetes is tightly clustered in families. This association is supported by a recent study that looked at 1435 multiplex families.

Type 2

The pancreatic beta cells in people with type 2 diabetes are less able to release enough insulin to maintain normal glucose and lipid balance, which is why type 2 diabetes is a condition of relative insulin deficit. Insulin resistance is associated with age, obesity, and less physical activity than normal. The total genetic risk ratio for type 2 diabetes ranges from 2 to 4, which is lower than the risk ratio for type 1 diabetes. The genetic contribution to type 2 diabetes is lower than that of type 1. Genes that are important in type 2 diabetes have been found using genome-wide scanning, with the most promising results occurring on chromosomes 1q21-q24, 2q37, 12q24, and 20. Other linkage areas are now being investigated, and it is possible that in the future novel type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes may be discovered.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are hereditary conditions, with type 2 diabetes having a far greater genetic influence. The hereditary risk ratio for type 1 is 15, whereas the risk ratio for type 2 is around 2. There is a possibility that the genes that contribute to type 1 diabetes are distinct from those that contribute to type 2 diabetes. It's possible that distinct groups of genes will define varying levels of risk for diabetes complications.

While doing research about this topic for personal reasons, I came across these two articles (links below) that I felt explained how diabetes types 1 and 2 can be linked to your genetics. In my opinion, the research being done currently on genes being connected to diabetes is crucial in order to understand the disease even more. There is a large percentage of people in the United States who have diabetes type 1 or type 2, so it is important to understand this disease as much as possible.

https://journals.lww.com/jasn/Fulltext/2006/02000/Genetics_of_Diabetes_and_Its_Complications.10.aspx

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303720713001408?casa_token=JilclpDEi58AAAAA:Ggc7VCavwYnGASBXyJhrPoLzAzwy1PV0X0XCfPetUWCxcuVGdk6w-bJorniMS4sgDRyAo0HD-9_V

Genetic Study Identifies Five Forms of Type 2 Diabetes

Individuals with Type 2 diabetes are insulin resistance, which means that the body does not use insulin properly. Patients with type 2 diabetes can now be grouped into five clusters based on their genetic variations to specify the treatment for each individual. In a recent study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital, an endocrinologist named Jose Florez and his associates discovered five clusters from known diabetes risk loci and related traits. Jose Florez and his associates used soft clusters in the study because they take into account the fact that one genetic variation may impact more than one trait and it provides a more broad framework.

            The five clusters identified included two marked by mechanism of pancreatic beta cell dysfunction and three by mechanisms of insulin resistance. The five clusters were proinsulin, beta cell, obesity, lipodystrophy, and the liver/lipid cluster. For example, the obesity cluster was associated with an increased BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percentage and it included the obesity-linked FTO and MC4R loci.  The findings obtained from the study was backed up by data from the US National Institutes of Health’s Roadmap Epigenomics Project. The genetically determined clusters can help patients with specific disease characteristics. The next step in the study is to determine how the clusters can make a difference in the prognosis of diseases and the response to treatments for affected individuals.

 I found this article interesting because Type 2 diabetes accounts for between 90-95 percent of all diabetes cases in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 30.3 million Americans have diabetes. If the study advances, individuals with type 2 diabetes will have a more specific treatment plan based on which type of diabetes they fit in instead of having a trial and error medication plan.