One study reveals that the gene does not increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in all Hispanic / Latino-born groups

A recent study found that people of Mexican origin were more likely than other groups of Hispanic / Latin American origin to have type 2 diabetes. The study, led by Bertha Hidalgo, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the Birmingham School of Public Health at the University of Alabama, has examined variants – alterations of the DNA sequence – of the SLC16A11 gene in six different genes Hispanic and Latin American. reference groups: Mexican, South American, Central, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Cuban. The study was published in Scientific reports.

Researchers badyzed data from the Hispanic Community Health Study / Latinos Study (HCHS / SOL), a community-based multicenter cohort study of Hispanic / Latin American populations in the United States. The cohort collected data from about 16,000 people.

"Traditionally, large studies of Hispanics and Latinos have grouped several subgroups into one category, ignoring the ancestral diversity that exists within this heterogeneous population," said Hidalgo. "The data from the Hispanic study on community health / Latinos study allow us to better understand the similarities and differences within and between these different subgroups."

Previous studies have shown that SLC16A11 gene variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people of Mexican origin. However, this is the first genetic risk study in the other five subgroups.

Although the researchers confirmed the increased risk for the Mexican core group, they found that there was no increased risk in the HCHS / SOL core groups of the group. South America and Central America, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Cuba.

"These results confirm the heterogeneity of the population, however, further work will be required to better understand the lack of replication of SLC16A11 variants in non-Mexican HCHS / SOL basal groups," Hidalgo said. "The current literature suggests that SLC16A11 may be a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes, and our study adds evidence to further explore this hypothesis."

Confirming the findings of previous studies and discovering that the gene is not likely to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the other five subgroups of the HCHS / SOL study means that more work needs to be done to explain the risk factors inherent in development. Type 2 diabetes in other populations.

"The results of this article suggest that we should perhaps take a closer look at the role of the gene and what it means in terms of generalizability as a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes," Hidalgo said. "Variants of the gene have been identified and replicated in the HCHS / SOL Mexican Core Group, and we now need to do additional work to better understand the risk of type 2 diabetes in other non-Mexican grbadroots groups. "

Hidalgo plans to continue research to identify risk factors for type 2 diabetes in a variety of Hispanic and Latin American populations.

Provided by
University of Alabama in Birmingham