Study of 596,778 East Asian people finds 196 type 2 diabetes loci
A study of 596,778 people with East Asian ancestry found 196 loci for type 2 diabetes, three of them new, according to Communications Biology. Fine-mapping across ancestries resolved 521 independent causal signals. Of those, 74 percent are shared with Europeans and the rest are specific to one ancestry. The population differences sit in pancreatic regulation and in lipid- or adipose-related pathways. A polygenic risk score built on the cross-ancestry meta-analysis predicted best, with an AUC of 0.788.
Combining ancestries gave the strongest risk prediction, but the authors say single-ancestry studies are still needed to find the biology that is specific to one population.
Written by the Genomes desk from the primary source cited and linked above and checked against it. Research use only; not medical advice. Corrections: [email protected].