Scientists Find New Mutation That May Lead To Better Diabetes Medications and Prevention Skip to main content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close 28 April 2015 00:23 AM America/Los_Angeles Scientists Find New Mutation That May Lead To Better Diabetes Medications and Prevention Contact: Laura Coverson Email: [email protected] Los Angeles - April 28, 2015 – An international team of scientists led by a Cedars-Sinai researcher has identified a new genetic mutation that appears to protect people from developing Type 2 diabetes. The finding could lead to the development of new drug therapies to treat about 26 million Type 2 diabetics in the United States who rely on insulin and oral medication to manage the life-threatening disease for which there is no cure. "We have a wonderful opportunity to personalize the treatment and prevention of this chronic disease," said Mark O. Goodarzi, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Cedars-Sinai. "Identification of genes that influence the risk of diabetes is going to open new frontiers in diabetes drug development." Type 2 diabetes affects the production of insulin, the vital glucose-regulating hormone, and its ability to control metabolism. The body's failure to manage blood sugar can lead to heart attacks and other serious health problems, including kidney disease, blindness and infections that can result in the amputation of limbs. In the study, researchers from the U.S., Asia and Europe analyzed the genes of 81,000 people who did not have Type 2 diabetes and then compared their genetic information to that of 16,000 diabetics. The investigators found that a genetic mutation in one particular gene – GLP1R – appeared to decrease the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 14 percent. "This newly identified mutation in such a large study group is a critical discovery in the field of diabetic research," said Richard Bergman, PhD, director of the Diabetes & Obesity Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai. "Now we need to better understand why and how this genetic mutation might protect people from developing diabetes." Goodarzi and the research team are part of the international consortium Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology. The study – titled "Low-frequency and Rare Exome Chip Variants Associate with Fasting Glucose and Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility" – was published recently in the journal Nature Communications. Investigators also tried to determine whether the unique genetic mutation affected rates of obesity, considered a major risk factor for developing diabetes. "The mutation we discovered may prevent certain people from developing diabetes, but it does not appear to affect their risk of becoming obese or their body mass index," said Goodarzi. Share this release Scientists Find New Mutation That May Lead To Better Diabetes Medications and Prevention Share on: Twitter Share on: Facebook Share on: LinkedIn Search Our Newsroom Social media Visit our Facebook page (opens in new window) Follow us on Twitter (opens in new window) Visit our Youtube profile (opens in new window) (opens in new window) Latest news 07 Oct 2022 - HealthDay: Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries 07 Oct 2022 - Faculty Publications: Sept. 29-Oct. 6 07 Oct 2022 - Fine-Tuning Organ-Chip Technology 06 Oct 2022 - KCRW: Want New Omicron Booster? Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot 05 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Schedules Free Flu Vaccine Clinics 04 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Showcases Hispanic and Latinx Art Newsroom Home