Scientists from the Broad Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US have found that teenage diabetes can be caused by both common and rare genetic variants. Research results published Nature Metabolism.
It has been noted that thousands of common genetic variants may contribute to diabetes susceptibility. There is also a rare monogenic form of this disease. Monogenic diabetes usually occurs in childhood or young adulthood when one or two gene mutations are inherited.
By analyzing the DNA of more than three thousand adolescents (aged 12 to 18) and 9,800 adults, scientists managed to find that teenage diabetes is a genetically intermediate form of the disease. It lies in the middle of the spectrum between the classic form of the disease, which occurs in adulthood, and rare forms caused by mutations in a single gene.
This means that diabetes in young people is often caused by both common and rare genetic variants. Additionally, the presence of more “predisposing” genetic variants in the genome may be associated with an increased risk of clinical disease manifestations.
The scientists hope their research will lead to the development of new treatments for diabetes and contribute to a better understanding of the genetic causes of other diseases.
Previous scientists I learnedand how diabetes weakens gum health.