Conference Reports
| Rev Diabet Stud,
2008,
5(3):171-174 |
DOI 10.1900/RDS.2008.5.171 |
Tracing the Pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes: A Report on the 44th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)
Liang-Hao Guo, Peter Achenbach
Diabetes Research Institute, Munich, Germany
Address correspondence to: Peter Achenbach, e-mail: peter.achenbach@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract
Clinical type 1 diabetes is preceded by autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta-cells. However, progression to disease is not uniform. One challenge facing current diabetes research is therefore to identify biomarker profiles that accurately reflect the individual stage of type 1 diabetes pathogenesis and develop new techniques to distinguish between these profiles and associated diabetes risks. This report highlights some of the recent studies on diabetes biomarkers, with a particular focus on zinc transporter ZnT8, presented at the EASD meeting in September 2008 in Rome, Italy.
Fulltext:
 HTML
,  PDF
(272KB)
| Rev Diabet Stud,
2008,
5(3):175-179 |
DOI 10.1900/RDS.2008.5.175 |
All we need is GWAS: Genome-Wide Association Studies in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus presented on the 2008 EASD Meeting in Rome
Tomasz Klupa, Maciej T. Malecki
Department of Metabolic Diseases, Jagiellonian University, Medical College, 15 Kopernika Street, 31-501 Krakow, Poland
Address correspondence to: Tomasz Klupa, e-mail: tomasz_klupa@yahoo.com
Abstract
Several lines of evidence suggest that genetic susceptibility plays a major role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Limited success of candidate gene approach and linkage analysis in identifying the genetic background of T2DM has caused many research groups to apply the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) approach. Recently, several GWAS have identified and validated novel gene variants highly associated with T2DM. Unfortunately, most of the genetic variance in risk of T2DM still remains undiscovered. The main topic for discussion concerning genetics of T2DM during the 2008 EASD sessions was how to get more data from existing GWAS, and how to improve GWAS for the future. The presentations and subsequent discussions highlighted some clear weaknesses of GWAS that need to be overcome before further progress can be made. One recognized minefield is the inability to pick up the signals from true diabetes susceptibility variants, against the background statistical noise produced by a large number of other analyzed markers. Also, there are the problems of low sensitivity in identifying the signals from relatively rare variants, and the low effectiveness in identifying epistatic gene-gene interactions.
Fulltext:
HTML
, PDF
(267KB)
| Rev Diabet Stud,
2008,
5(3):180-183 |
DOI 10.1900/RDS.2008.5.180 |
Intensive Glycemic Control and Macrovascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetes – A Report on the 44th Annual EASD Meeting, Rome, Italy, September 2008
Tapani Rönnemaa
Department of Medicine, University of Turku, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland, e-mail: tapani.ronnemaa@utu.fi
Abstract
The impact of strict glycemic control on the prevention of macrovascular diseases in type 2 diabetes patients has remained unresolved for decades. New results presented at the EASD meeting shed new light on this question. Recent data from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) showed that intensive glycemic control, when initiated immediately after diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and continued for a period of ten years followed by another ten years without special intervention, prevents myocardial infarction and decreases all-cause mortality. The Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial demonstrated that striving to achieve near-normal glycemia in older patients with relatively long duration of diabetes and, in many cases, previous macrovascular events did not reduce future macrovascular events but increased the risk of severe hypoglycemia. These results indicate that effective treatment of hyperglycemia should be started early after diabetes diagnosis. However, introducing strict diabetes control after more than 10 years diabetes duration may lead to unfavorable effects in patients with hitherto unsatisfactorily controlled diabetes.
Fulltext:
HTML
, PDF
(253KB)
| Rev Diabet Stud,
2008,
5(3):184-188 |
DOI 10.1900/RDS.2008.5.184 |
Anti-diabetic Agents in Type 2 Diabetes: A Review of New Data Presented and Discussed on the EASD meeting in Rome, 2008
Harold W. de Valk
Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands, e-mail: h.w.devalk@umcutrecht.nl
Abstract
The results of a number of large trials and the arrival of new glucose-lowering drugs are changing the scene of diabetes care in patients with type 2 diabetes. The results of the ADVANCE and ACCORD trials have shown that strict glycemic control does not improve macrovascular outcome. Consequently, the importance of duration of disease, presence of cardiovascular disease and risk of hypoglycemia, have been brought again into focus as considerations in designing individual treatment plans. New drugs related to the incretin system have emerged in the past year, and these may decrease certain risks of classic glucose-lowering drugs. However, we have to be aware of the possibility of yet unknown longer-term risks from newly developed drugs. The new insights from the trials presented on the EASD meeting 2008 and the emerging information on the new drugs are used in this paper to start defining the contours of prospective new treatment strategies.
Fulltext:
HTML
, PDF
(271KB)
|
