Overweight and genotype interact in the development of LADA
Individuals with overweight carrying high-risk genes are at significantly higher risk of developing LADA compared to indivuduals that do not have overweight or the high-risk genes, shows a new study based on data from the ESTRID study and the Norwegian HUNT study.
The study shows that overweight not only is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes but also for LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults). Individuals carrying the high-risk gene for LADA were at a 3,5-fold increased risk of developing LADA, and individuals with overweight were at an almost 3-fold increased risk. However, the combination of being both overweight and carrying the high-risk gene yielded an almost 8 times higher risk of developing LADA compared to individuals without overweight who were non-carriers of the high-risk genotype.
The study also confirms a substantial influence of overweight on the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, it is the combination of risk genotype and overweight that is most detrimental. Interestingly, risk genes typically associated with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity were also shown to more than double the risk for LADA when in combination with overweight.
First author is Phd student Rebecka Hjort and you can read the full article here: Interaction between overweight and genotypes of HLA, TCF7L2, and FTO in relation to the risk of Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults and type 2 diabetes.