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Current Diabetes Reviews

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1573-3998
ISSN (Online): 1875-6417

Genetic Studies of Type 2 Diabetes in South Asians: A Systematic Overview

Author(s): Ritam Chowdhury, Kabayam M. Venkat Narayan, Azadeh Zabetian, Suraja Raj and Rubina Tabassum

Volume 10, Issue 4, 2014

Page: [258 - 274] Pages: 17

DOI: 10.2174/1573399810666140707101325

Price: $65

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus, which affects 366 million people worldwide, is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, and loss of quality of life. South Asians, comprising 24% of the world’s population, suffer a large burden of type 2 diabetes. With intriguing risk phenotypes, unique environmental triggers, and potential genetic predisposition, South Asians offer a valuable resource for investigating the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Genomics has proven its potential to underpin some of the etiology of type 2 diabetes by identifying a number of susceptibility genes, but such data are scarce and unclear in South Asians. We present a systematic review of studies on the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes or its complications in South Asians published between 1987-2012, and discuss the findings and limitations of the available data. Of the 91 eligible studies meeting our inclusion criteria, a vast majority included Indian populations, followed by a few in those of Pakistani origin, while other South Asian countries were generally under-represented. Though a large number of studies focused on the replication of findings from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in European populations, a few studies explored new genes and pathways along with GWAS in South Asians and suggested the potential to unravel population- specific susceptibility genes in this population. We find encouraging improvements in study designs, sample sizes and the numbers of genetic variants investigated over the last five years, which reflect the existing capacity and scope for large-scale genetic studies in South Asians.

Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, genetics, south asians, systematic review.


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