Scientists have completed the largest and most diverse genetic study of Type 1 diabetes ever undertaken, identifying new drug targets to treat a condition that affects 1.3 million American adults.
Researcher Stephen Rich said the study benefits from its diverse pool of participants, which provides “unique genetic insights,” he said. (UVA Health photo)
Several potential drugs are already in the pipeline. Drugs targeting 12 genes identified in the diabetes study have been tested or are being tested in clinical trials for autoimmune diseases. That could accelerate the drugs’ repurposing for treating or preventing Type 1 diabetes, the researchers say.
“This work represents the largest, most ancestry-diverse study of Type 1 diabetes that identifies the most likely causal genetic variants associated with risk, their target genes and those genes that are implicated in other autoimmune diseases with known drug targets,” said researcher Stephen S. Rich of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and its Center for Public Health Genomics. “Using these results, we hope that the number of plausible genetic variants will be reduced, their function and gene targets clarified, and that existing drugs used in other diseases can be tested for their impact on delaying onset of Type 1 diabetes, or improved treatment outcomes.”
Continue reading the full UVAToday article.
Findings Published
The researchers published their findings in the scientific journal Nature Genetics. The research team consisted of Catherine C. Robertson, Jamie R.J. Inshaw, Suna Onengut-Gumuscu, Wei-Min Chen, David Flores Santa Cruz, Hanzhi Yang, Antony J. Cutler, Daniel J. M. Crouch, Emily Farber, S. Louis Bridges Jr., Jeffrey C. Edberg, Robert P. Kimberly, Jane H. Buckner, Panos Deloukas, Jasmin Divers, Dana Dabelea, Jean M. Lawrence, Santica Marcovina, Amy S. Shah, Carla J. Greenbaum, Mark A. Atkinson, Peter K. Gregersen, Jorge R. Oksenberg, Flemming Pociot, Marian J. Rewers, Andrea K. Steck, David B. Dunger, Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium, Linda S. Wicker, Patrick Concannon, John A. Todd and Rich.
Tags: Catherine Robertson, CPHG, Emily Farber, Jamie Inshaw, Patrick Concannon, Stephen Rich, Suna Onengut-Gumuscu, T1D, Type 1 Diabetes, Wei-Min Chen
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