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Researchers have found variations in a gene that may help explain why people with type 2 diabetes have a much greater risk of developing heart disease, according to a study reported in the October 1 issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics.
Lead researcher Alessandro Doria, MD, of Boston’s Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, said the finding could lead to drugs or other methods that reduce this risk in diabetics.
Diabetics are already known to be two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than non-diabetics. Diabetics also have an increased risk of stroke, blindness, kidney disease and nerve damage.
Doria and his colleagues focused on a gene governing a protein called CD36. This protein is found in the membrane of several types of cells, including the walls of blood vessels. Previous studies had shown that CD36 is involved in the dangerous buildup of plaque that can lead to partial or complete blockage of the artery and heart attack or stroke.
The researchers studied 518 people with type 2 diabetes. Nearly half of the participants also had heart disease. The researchers mapped out each person's CD36 gene variations and compared those results with the presence of known heart disease. People with variations of the CD36 gene were 60 percent more likely to have heart disease.
"While this research is a significant starting point for assessing risk of heart disease, a constellation of factors are involved," said Doria. "But it is clear that in addition to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and environmental factors such as smoking, genes are important determinants of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes."
Source:
Diabetes Week staff,
October 23, 2004
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