Researchers at Lund University announced on Apr. 7 that they have found a connection between genetic predisposition to certain diabetes subgroups and the risk of developing coronary artery disease. The team developed genetic risk scores for five different diabetes subgroups and discovered that these scores could predict the likelihood of coronary artery disease, even before the onset of diabetes.
This research is significant because it may allow earlier identification of individuals at high risk for both diabetes and heart disease, potentially improving prevention efforts for complications such as myocardial infarction. Cardiologist Andreas Edsfeldt said, "Type 2 diabetes is a silent disease which is often detected when the patient is seeking care for complications, such as coronary artery disease. We need to identify individuals with a high risk of developing diabetes and coronary artery disease at a much earlier stage, as this may allow us to improve prevention of complications, such as myocardial infarction. In our new study, we have identified a group that we may be able to help at an earlier stage than we do today."
The study was conducted using data from Malmö Diet Cancer (MDC), which includes randomly selected participants from the general population with long-term follow-up data. The researchers analyzed information from over 24,000 participants; more than 4,100 developed diabetes during the study period. Their findings show that genetic risk scores based on previous genome-wide association studies can predict both future development of diabetes and increased risk for coronary artery disease in those genetically predisposed to MOD—a subgroup characterized by obesity and early onset type 2 diabetes.
Jiangming Sun explained how these findings might impact future healthcare: "Diabetes is a heterogeneous disease and the risk to develop coronary artery disease can differ greatly between individuals. Our DNA is inherited and largely stable across life, therefore genetic risk scores can help determine a person's risk of developing diabetes and coronary artery disease early in life." Edsfeldt added his hopes for practical applications: "I hope that genetic risk scores can be used to identify individuals who are at risk of developing diabetes and coronary artery disease long before early signs of disease. This would give us a better opportunity to delay or prevent onset of the disease."
Mengyu Pan noted one limitation: "A limitation of our study is that it has been conducted on population studies where most participants are of European descent, which means that the findings may not be generalisable to other populations. Future studies in diverse populations are warranted to validate and extend these findings."
The researchers plan further studies into biological mechanisms behind heart diseases among people with MOD genetics.
