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Researchers at Johns Hopkins University recently published a new study that looks at the ways obesity might work with an individual's genes to “conspire to trigger diabetes,” according to Johns Hopkins University.
The study looked at the connection between obesity and certain changes in cells in mice. The study is titled: “Mouse-Human Experimental Epigenetic Analysis Unmasks Dietary Targets and Genetic Liability for Diabetic Phenotypes.”
Said Andrew Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H., Gilman Scholar and director of the Center for Epigenetics in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: “It’s well known that most common diseases like diabetes result from a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. What we haven’t been able to do is figure out how, exactly, the two are connected. This study takes a step in that direction.”
The study revealed information that surprised the researchers.
Said G. William Wong, Ph.D., an associate professor of physiology in the Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research at Johns Hopkins and one of the research group leaders: “This study yielded a list of genes that previously have not been shown to play a role in diabetes. In further tests, we showed that at least some of these genes indeed regulate insulin action on sugar uptake; they offer insights into new potential targets for treating type 2 diabetes.”
According to Johns Hopkins, one potential result from the study is to provide drug development leads. The results also suggest that “an epigenetic test could be developed to identify people much earlier on the path to diabetes, giving more hope for preventing the disease.”
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