November 2, 2024

Biomarker Discovered That Predicts Type 2 Diabetes Many Years Before Diagnosis

A large research study led by Lund University in Sweden has recognized a protein in the blood that might forecast type 2 diabetes up to nineteen years prior to the onset of the illness. The study is released in Nature Communications.
Type 2 diabetes is a growing worldwide epidemic, with 6% of the world population struggling with the disease. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be greatly lowered by weight control, eating well and exercising before the actual symptom of the disease. Early detection of type 2 diabetes danger prior to symptoms could help decrease health complications associated with diabetes.

An AI-based diagnostic tool utilizing follistatin as a biomarker for type 2 diabetes is being developed through the biotech start-up Lundoch Diagnostics, where Yang De Marinis is CEO.

” We found that higher levels of the protein follistatin circulating in the blood forecast type 2 diabetes as much as nineteen years before the start of the illness, regardless of other recognized threat elements, such as age, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood sugar levels, diet or exercise,” says Dr. Yang De Marinis, associate professor at Lund University and lead author of the research study..
This discovery is based on studies that followed 5,318 people over the course of 4 to 19 years in 2 various locations in Sweden and Finland..
Utilizing scientific information from the German Tübingen Diabetes Family Study and cell biology examination, the researchers discovered that follistatin promotes fat breakdown from the adipose tissue, resulting in increased lipid build-up in the liver. This in turn increases the threat of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes.
To learn what manages blood follistatin levels, the scientists performed genome-wide association research study (GWAS) on 5,124 people from Sweden, the UK and Italy, and exposed that follistatin levels are genetically controlled by glucokinase regulative protein (GCKR), which impact on several metabolic traits.
” This research study shows that follistatin has the possible to become a crucial biomarker to anticipate future type 2 diabetes, and it likewise brings us one step closer to the understanding of the systems behind the disease,” states Yang De Marinis.
The next step is to put the results into clinical usage. An AI-based diagnostic tool utilizing follistatin as a biomarker for type 2 diabetes is being established through the biotech start-up Lundoch Diagnostics, where Yang De Marinis is CEO. This will advertise the tool under patent applications in worldwide markets. The tool intends to offer a basic blood test, where results from a protein biomarker panel can be imputed in an AI-driven algorithm, and eventually offer patients a risk rating to evaluate their threat of future type 2 diabetes..
” This discovery holds the opportunity of setting up procedures to avoid type 2 diabetes from ending up being established. Our research study will continue towards this objective,” concludes Yang De Marinis.
Reference: “Elevated flowing follistatin partners with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes” by Chuanyan Wu, Yan Borné, Rui Gao, Maykel López Rodriguez, William C. Roell, Jonathan M. Wilson, Ajit Regmi, Cheng Luan, Dina Mansour Aly, Andreas Peter, Jürgen Machann, Harald Staiger, Andreas Fritsche, Andreas L. Birkenfeld, Rongya Tao, Robert Wagner, Mickaël Canouil, Mun-Gwan Hong, Jochen M. Schwenk, Emma Ahlqvist, Minna U. Kaikkonen, Peter Nilsson, Angela C. Shore, Faisel Khan, Andrea Natali, Olle Melander, Marju Orho-Melander, Jan Nilsson, Hans-Ulrich Häring, Erik Renström, Claes B. Wollheim, Gunnar Engström, Jianping Weng, Ewan R. Pearson, Paul W. Franks, Morris F. White, Kevin L. Duffin, Allan Arthur Vaag, Markku Laakso, Norbert Stefan, Leif Groop and Yang De Marinis, 10 November 2021, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-021-26536-w.

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be considerably lowered by weight control, consuming well and working out before the actual manifestation of the disease. Early detection of type 2 diabetes danger before signs might assist reduce health problems related to diabetes.