University of Bristol

Academic Institute

April HartleyProfessor Kate TillingProfessor George Davey SmithDr Venexia Walker

B3872

Pre-diabetes is a condition where blood glucose levels are elevated above normal, but below the threshold to be defined as type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that 70% of those meeting the criteria for pre-diabetes will eventually progress to type 2 diabetes, which is a chronic, incurable condition associated with various other comorbidities. It is therefore important to understand why some individuals progress from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes, so that we can develop interventions to stop this happening. We therefore aim to identify the genetic basis for why some individuals progress from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes.

The ALSPAC data will contribute to a larger GWAS meta-analysis which will hopefully identify genes involved in progression from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes. The resulting summary statistics will also be used for two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses to identify non-genetic risk factors. Identifying risk factors for progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes may aid the development of interventions to prevent diabetes onset in those at high risk.

20/09/2021