Scientists have completed a map of areas of the human genome that control which genes are switched on or off in type 2 diabetes, a finding that may advance understanding of the genetic basis of this and other common diseases.
"Most of the human genome is uncharted territory -- entire stretches of sequence with no clear function or purpose," study co-senior author Jason Lieb, an associate professor of biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a news release.
"In fact, the majority of the DNA sequences associated with disease found thus far reside in the middle of nowhere. Here we have developed a map that can guide scientists to regions of the genome that do appear to be functionally relevant, instead of a dead end."
Using a new method (called FAIRE-seq) developed in Lieb's laboratory, the researchers produced the first high-resolution atlas of these regulatory elements in pancreatic islet cells, the most studied cell type for the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes.
The study was published online recently in Nature Genetics.
This map is likely to help identify new genetic targets for understanding and treating type 2 diabetes, but the method used in this study isn't limited to diabetes or pancreatic islet cells. Lieb plans to use FAIRE-seq to investigate other cells, including immune cells.
Source : BusinessWeek
Showing posts with label Type 2 Diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Type 2 Diabetes. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Coffee Reduces the Risks of Developing Type 2 Diabetes
A meta-analysis report, published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that consuming coffee reduces the risk of developing type 2 Diabetes. The data is based on 18 studies between 1966 and July of this year.
The findings indicate that for every additional cup of coffee consumed daily, there was an associated 5% to 10% decrease in excess risk of developing diabetes. There was a 25 % reduction in risk when consuming three to four cups of coffee per day over drinking less than three. Similar results were also suggested based on 6 studies on the consumption of decaffeinated coffee and 7 studies on the consumption of tea.
According to researcher, Dr. Rachel Huxley of the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues - "If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial,"
Dr Huxley went on to say - "For example, the identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus. It could also be envisaged that we will advise our patients most at risk for diabetes mellitus to increase their consumption of tea and coffee in addition to increasing their levels of physical activity and weight loss."
Conclusions of the report did however recognize that the individual studies researched were small, and as such, may contain "small study bias", which overestimate the “true magnitude of the association”.
SOURCE
The findings indicate that for every additional cup of coffee consumed daily, there was an associated 5% to 10% decrease in excess risk of developing diabetes. There was a 25 % reduction in risk when consuming three to four cups of coffee per day over drinking less than three. Similar results were also suggested based on 6 studies on the consumption of decaffeinated coffee and 7 studies on the consumption of tea.
According to researcher, Dr. Rachel Huxley of the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues - "If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial,"
Dr Huxley went on to say - "For example, the identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus. It could also be envisaged that we will advise our patients most at risk for diabetes mellitus to increase their consumption of tea and coffee in addition to increasing their levels of physical activity and weight loss."
Conclusions of the report did however recognize that the individual studies researched were small, and as such, may contain "small study bias", which overestimate the “true magnitude of the association”.
SOURCE
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Popular Diabetes Drug Could be Fatal
Sulphonylureas, a type of drug widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, has a greater risk of causing heart failure and death as compared to metformin, another popular antidiabetes drug, according to a study.
The findings suggest that clinically important differences in the cardiovascular safety profiles of different antidiabetes drugs, and support recommendations that favour metformin as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes affects more than 180 million people worldwide and is associated with at least a two-fold increased risk of death, mainly from cardiovascular disease.
Oral antidiabetes drugs are widely used to help control blood sugar levels, but there are concerns that some may increase cardiovascular risk.
Thus, researchers led by Professor Paul Elliott from Imperial College London set out to investigate the risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction), congestive heart failure and death from any cause associated with prescription of different types of oral antidiabetes drugs.
They used data from 91,521 men and women (average age 65 years) with diabetes included in the UK General Practice Research Database between 1990 and 2005 and took into account factors that could potentially affect the results.
Metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug, followed by second generation sulphonylureas. Compared with metformin, both first and second generation sulphonylureas were linked with significant excess risk of all cause mortality, and second generation sulphonylureas with up to 30 percent excess risk of congestive heart failure.
Another class of antidiabetes drugs called thiazolidinediones were not associated with risk of heart attack, and there was significantly lower risk of all cause mortality associated with pioglitazone use compared with metformin.
"The sulphonylureas, along with metformin, have long been considered the mainstay of drug treatment for type 2 diabetes. Our findings suggest a relatively unfavourable risk profile of sulphonylureas compared with metformin," the British Medical Journal quoted the authors as saying.
SOURCE
The findings suggest that clinically important differences in the cardiovascular safety profiles of different antidiabetes drugs, and support recommendations that favour metformin as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes affects more than 180 million people worldwide and is associated with at least a two-fold increased risk of death, mainly from cardiovascular disease.
Oral antidiabetes drugs are widely used to help control blood sugar levels, but there are concerns that some may increase cardiovascular risk.
Thus, researchers led by Professor Paul Elliott from Imperial College London set out to investigate the risk of heart attack (myocardial infarction), congestive heart failure and death from any cause associated with prescription of different types of oral antidiabetes drugs.
They used data from 91,521 men and women (average age 65 years) with diabetes included in the UK General Practice Research Database between 1990 and 2005 and took into account factors that could potentially affect the results.
Metformin was the most commonly prescribed drug, followed by second generation sulphonylureas. Compared with metformin, both first and second generation sulphonylureas were linked with significant excess risk of all cause mortality, and second generation sulphonylureas with up to 30 percent excess risk of congestive heart failure.
Another class of antidiabetes drugs called thiazolidinediones were not associated with risk of heart attack, and there was significantly lower risk of all cause mortality associated with pioglitazone use compared with metformin.
"The sulphonylureas, along with metformin, have long been considered the mainstay of drug treatment for type 2 diabetes. Our findings suggest a relatively unfavourable risk profile of sulphonylureas compared with metformin," the British Medical Journal quoted the authors as saying.
SOURCE
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