Genetic Variants May Personalize Diabetes Care
Two genetic variants predict the cardiovascular effects of intensive glycemic control, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in Diabetes Care. If validated with further studies, these genetic variants may function as a screening tool to help determine in which diabetic patients intensive glycemic control may be effective and in which patients the strategy may be harmful. People with type 2 diabetes have substantially higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people without diabetes. Intensive glycemic control—an HbA1c less than 6.0 percent, rather than between 7.0 and 7.9 percent —was hoped to bring cardiovascular benefit. However, in the ACCORD trial’s intensive treatment arm, benefits of intensive glycemic control were "surprisingly inconsistent." Intensive glycemic control reduced the risk of heart attack and major cardiovascular events, but actually increased cardiovascular mortality. This study, also by the ACCORD researchers, sought to determine if there was a way to genetically screen patients to identify those likely to be safely treated with intensive glycemic control. The multi-institutional group of researchers analyzed more than 8 million common variants for genome-wide association with cardiovascular mortality among 2,667 white participants in the ACCORD intensive treatment arm. Significant loci were additionally examined in the entire ACCORD white genetic dataset […]
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