Genetic study finds no clear hormone effect on type 2 diabetes
Analyses of genetic data from people of multiple ancestries found that an apparent protective link disappeared after accounting for traits related to body fat.
Limit: Diabetes outcomes after deliberately changing adiponectin levels were not measured
In people of multiple ancestries, researchers analysed genetic data to examine links between adiponectin, a hormone that helps insulin control blood sugar, and type 2 diabetes. They used Mendelian randomisation, which uses inherited genetic differences to investigate possible cause and effect.
Initial estimates suggested a protective effect. That association did not persist after researchers excluded genetic differences linked to body fat or adjusted for related traits. Overall, the genetic analyses did not show a causal association between adiponectin levels and diabetes. Another genetic analysis suggested adiponectin might help explain the link between fat around internal organs and diabetes in women. In young people from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, longitudinal observational analyses suggested adiponectin might also help explain the link between body fat and blood sugar after fasting.
Why it matters
Type 2 diabetes affects health in later life. Untangling the roles of body fat and blood-sugar hormones may help clarify its biology across ages.
Caveats
These genetic and observational analyses did not test what happens when adiponectin levels are deliberately changed. The findings in young people do not establish what happens in older adults.
