Metabolite levels may be able to improve diabetes risk prediction
Date: 22.3.2011
Measuring the levels of small molecules in the blood may be able to identify individuals at elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes as much as a decade before symptoms of the disorder appear. In a report receiving advance online release in Nature Medicine, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers describes finding that levels of five amino acids not only indicated increased diabetes risk in a general population but also could differentiate, among individuals with traditional risk factors such as obesity, those most likely to actually develop diabetes.
New technologies to measure levels of metabolites -- small molecules produced by metabolic activities and released into the bloodstream -- are giving investigators increased insight into an individual's metabolic status. Since the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes marks the culmination of a years-long breakdown of the body's system for metabolizing glucose, the ability to detect that breakdown at a stage when lifestyle changes could halt the process may significantly reduce the incidence of the disease. Known risk factors such as obesity and elevated glucose levels often signify that diabetes actually is present, so earlier identification of at-risk individuals is critical to more effective preventive measures, the authors note.
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