Extra Gene Ups Type-I Diabetes Risk

[Angel]

Scientists are hot on the trail of type 1 diabetes. The latest research reveals children who inherit a certain gene -- dubbed "gene X" -- may run an 80-percent risk of coming down with the condition.

The University of Colorado researchers report they have long known type 1 diabetes -- the kind usually diagnosed in childhood and in the past referred to as juvenile diabetes -- has a strong genetic component. In this study, they used a simple analysis combining known high-risk genes with the newly identified gene. The study examined specific versions of the genes that ran in the families of people with diabetes.

Results showed children who inherited all the high-risk genes were significantly more likely to develop the anti-islet autoimmunity that precedes the full-blown condition, with 63 percent exhibiting autoimmunity by age 7 and 85 percent by age 15.

Children who inherited only some of the genes were less likely to develop the condition, with the risk decreasing as the number of genes decreased.

The findings could help identify children at risk for type 1 diabetes before they develop autoimmunity and, most importantly, might lead to a way to prevent the condition if researchers can find ways to stop the anti-islet autoimmunity from ever getting started.

The authors write, "It may be much easier to prevent anti-islet autoimmunity than to prevent progression to diabetes once anti-islet autoimmunity is initiated ... Infants and children who have the highest genetic risk for diabetes as defined by this study are a major group that may now be considered for initial clinical trials to prevent childhood diabetes before the development of anti-islet autoantibodies."