Interaction of diabetes genetic risk and successful lifestyle modification in the Diabetes Prevention Programme

Genetic risk of type 2 diabetes modifies the association between lifestyle and glycemic health at 5 years postpartum among high-risk women

INTRODUCTION

Lifestyle interventions are effective in preventing type 2 diabetes, but genetic background may influence the individual response. In the Finnish gestational diabetes prevention study, RADIEL, lifestyle intervention during pregnancy and first postpartum year was effective in preventing gestational diabetes (GDM) and postpartum glycemic abnormalities only among women at highest genetic risk of type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to assess whether still 5 years postpartum the genetic risk modifies the association between lifestyle and glycemic health.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The RADIEL study (randomized controlled trial) aimed to prevent GDM with a lifestyle intervention among high-risk women (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 and/or prior GDM). The follow-up study 5 years postpartum included anthropometric measurements, laboratory assessments, device-measured physical activity (PA), and questionnaires. A Healthy Lifestyle Score (HLS) indicated adherence to lifestyle goals (PA, diet, smoking) and a polygenic risk score (PRS) based on 50 type 2 diabetes risk alleles depicted the genetic risk.

RESULTS

Altogether 314 women provided genetic and glycemic data 5 years postpartum. The PRS for type 2 diabetes was not associated with glycemic abnormalities, nor was HLS in the total study sample. There was, however, an interaction between HLS and type 2 diabetes PRS on glycemic abnormalities (p=0.03). When assessing the association between HLS and glycemic abnormalities in PRS tertiles, HLS was associated with reduced risk of glycemic abnormalities only among women at the highest genetic risk (p=0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

These results extend our previous findings from pregnancy and first postpartum year demonstrating that still at 5 years postpartum, healthy lifestyle is associated with a lower risk of prediabetes/diabetes only among women at the highest genetic risk of type 2 diabetes.

Impact of individual and environmental factors on dietary or lifestyle interventions to prevent type 2 diabetes development: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

The variability in the effectiveness of type 2 diabetes (T2D) preventive interventions highlights the potential to identify the factors that determine treatment responses and those that would benefit the most from a given intervention. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize the evidence to support whether sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, and molecular factors modify the efficacy of dietary or lifestyle interventions to prevent T2D.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases for studies reporting on the effect of a lifestyle, dietary pattern, or dietary supplement interventions on the incidence of T2D and reporting the results stratified by any effect modifier. We extracted relevant statistical findings and qualitatively synthesized the evidence for each modifier based on the direction of findings reported in available studies. We used the Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Scale to assess the certainty of the evidence for a given effect modifier.

RESULTS

The 81 publications that met our criteria for inclusion are from 33 unique trials. The evidence is low to very low to attribute variability in intervention effectiveness to individual characteristics such as age, sex, BMI, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, baseline behavioral factors, or genetic predisposition.

CONCLUSIONS

We report evidence, albeit low certainty, that those with poorer health status, particularly those with prediabetes at baseline, tend to benefit more from T2D prevention strategies compared to healthier counterparts. Our synthesis highlights the need for purposefully designed clinical trials to inform whether individual factors influence the success of T2D prevention strategies.

Disparities in diabetes prevalence and management by race and ethnicity in the USA: defining a path forward

Type 2 diabetes disparities in the USA persist in both the prevalence of disease and diabetes-related complications. We conducted a literature review related to diabetes prevention, management, and complications across racial and ethnic groups in the USA. The objective of this review is to summarise the current understanding of diabetes disparities by examining differences between and within racial and ethnic groups and among young people (aged <18 years). We also examine the pathophysiology of diabetes as it relates to race and ethnic differences. We use a conceptual framework built on the socioecological model to categorise the causes of diabetes disparities across the lifespan looking at factors in five domains of health behaviours and social norms, public awareness, structural racism, economic development, and access to high-quality care. The range of disparities in diabetes prevalence and management in the USA calls for a community-engaged and multidisciplinary approach that must involve community partners, researchers, practitioners, health system administrators, and policy makers. We offer recommendations for each of these groups to help to promote equity in diabetes prevention and care in the USA.

Role of sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, and molecular factors in precision prevention of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review

The variability in the effectiveness of type 2 diabetes (T2D) preventive interventions highlights the potential to identify the factors that determine treatment responses and those that would benefit the most from a given intervention. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize the evidence to support whether sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, and molecular characteristics modify the efficacy of dietary or lifestyle interventions to prevent T2D. Among the 80 publications that met our criteria for inclusion, the evidence was low to very low to attribute variability in intervention effectiveness to individual characteristics such as age, sex, BMI, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, baseline behavioral factors, or genetic predisposition. We found evidence, albeit low certainty, to support conclusions that those with poorer health status, particularly those with prediabetes at baseline, tend to benefit more from T2D prevention strategies compared to healthier counterparts. Our synthesis highlights the need for purposefully designed clinical trials to inform whether individual factors influence the success of T2D prevention strategies.

Weight Loss Versus Glycemic Control as the Primary Treatment Target in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes: Why Choose When You Can Have Both?

Weight loss has been associated with significant improvements in glycemic control, quality of life, and comorbidities in people with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, achieving diabetes remission can reduce the risk of microvascular complications and mitigate the burden of diabetes on healthcare systems. However, preventing weight regain is challenging in the long term. Strict glycemic control, particularly in the early stages of the disease, can reduce the subsequent risk of microvascular complications and specific macrovascular endpoints in the long run; however, its impact on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality remains controversial. New classes of antidiabetic agents, namely glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, have been shown to reduce cardiorenal risk and induce weight loss, in addition to effectively lowering blood glucose with a minimal risk of hypoglycemia. Recently, it has been debated whether weight loss or glycemic control should be the first priority in people with a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. This article aims to discuss the debate from a clinical perspective, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each therapeutic strategy, and assess the impact of both approaches on the future risk of diabetic complications, based on the latest evidence. Given that both goals are equally important, the authors suggest that merging the two strategies, with the early and aggressive use of combination therapies consisting of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, will confer maximum benefits in terms of weight loss and glycemic control, and will reduce the future risk of complications from diabetes. A personalized approach that takes into account specific patient characteristics, including age, sex, race, frailty, and cognitive status, among others, can lead to more effective diabetes care.

Physical Activity Types, Physical Activity Levels and Risk of Diabetes in General Adults: The NHANES 2007-2018

BACKGROUND

Recreational activities show benefits for diabetes prevention, but work-related activity and the total amount of individual physical activity is rarely discussed.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the participation in five typical physical activities (vigorous work activity, vigorous recreational activities, moderate work activity, moderate recreational activities, and walk/bicycle for transportation), as well as the weekly distribution of total physical activity intensity, and to explore the relationships between physical activity types, physical activity levels, and risk of diabetes.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

The self-reported physical activity data on specific domains of physical activity were acquired from individuals in the 2007-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) using the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). Diabetes status was assessed by self-reported medical diagnosis or medication usage, or a fasting glucose concentration ≥ 126 mg/dL (fasting is defined as no caloric intake for at least 8 h) or HbA1c ≥ 6.5%. Weighted logistic regression was used to investigate the associations between physical activity types, physical activity levels, and risk of diabetes.

RESULTS

Diabetes was less prevalent in people who participated in physical activity and the risk of diabetes reduced progressively as total physical activity levels increased. Younger adults (20-44 years) and males reported a higher proportion of high-intensity physical activity participation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the importance of a physically active lifestyle for preventing diabetes. Distinct types of physical activity had different effects on the risk of diabetes. A greater total physical activity level was related to a substantial reduction in diabetes risk.

Polygenic risk scores for the prediction of cardiometabolic disease

Cardiometabolic diseases contribute more to global morbidity and mortality than any other group of disorders. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs), the weighted summation of individually small-effect genetic variants, represent an advance in our ability to predict the development and complications of cardiometabolic diseases. This article reviews the evidence supporting the use of PRS in seven common cardiometabolic diseases: coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, hypertension, heart failure and cardiomyopathies, obesity, atrial fibrillation (AF), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Data suggest that PRS for CAD, AF, and T2DM consistently improves prediction when incorporated into existing clinical risk tools. In other areas such as ischaemic stroke and hypertension, clinical application appears premature but emerging evidence suggests that the study of larger and more diverse populations coupled with more granular phenotyping will propel the translation of PRS into practical clinical prediction tools.

MicroRNAs Associated with Incident Diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Program

OBJECTIVE

MicroRNAs (miRs) are short (i.e., 18-26 nucleotide) regulatory elements of messenger RNA translation to amino acids. The purpose of this study was to assess whether miRs are predictive of incident T2D in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

This was a secondary analysis (n = 1,000) of a subset of the DPP cohort that leveraged banked biospecimens to measure miRs. We used random survival forest and Lasso to identify the optimal miR predictors and cox proportional hazards to model time to T2D overall and within intervention arms.

RESULTS

We identified five miRs (miR-144, miR-186, miR-203a, miR-205, miR-206) that constituted the optimal predictors of incident T2D after adjustment for covariates (hazards ratio 2.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.05, 3.87); p < 0.001). Predictive risk scores following cross-validation showed the HR for the highest quartile risk group compared to the lowest quartile risk group was 5.91 (95% CI (2.02, 17.3); p < 0.001). There was significant interaction between the intensive lifestyle (HR 3.60, 95% CI (2.50, 5.18); p < 0.001) and the metformin (HR 2.72; 95% CI (1.47, 5.00); p = 0.001) groups compared to placebo. Of the five miRs identified, one targets a gene with prior known associations with risk for T2D.

DISCUSSION

We identified five miRs that are optimal predictors of incident T2D in the DPP cohort. Future directions include validation of this finding in an independent sample in order to determine whether this risk score may have potential clinical utility for risk stratification of individuals with prediabetes, and functional analysis of the potential genes and pathways targeted by the miRs that were included in the risk score.

Do gene-environment interactions have implications for the precision prevention of type 2 diabetes?

The past decades have seen a rapid global rise in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. This surge has been driven by diabetogenic environmental changes that may act together with a genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes. It is possible that there is a synergistic gene-environment interaction, where the effects of the diabetogenic environment depend on the genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes. Randomised trials have shown that it is possible to delay, or even prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in individuals at elevated risk through behavioural modification, focusing on weight loss, physical activity and diet. There is wide heterogeneity between individuals regarding the effectiveness of these interventions, which could, in part, be due to genetic differences. However, the studies of gene-environment interactions performed thus far suggest that behavioural modifications appear equally effective in reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes from the stage of impaired glucose tolerance, regardless of the known underlying genetic predisposition. Recent studies suggest that there may be several subtypes of type 2 diabetes, which give new opportunities for gaining insight into gene-environment interactions. At present, the role of gene-environment interactions in the development of type 2 diabetes remains unclear. With many puzzle pieces missing in the general picture of type 2 diabetes development, the available evidence of gene-environment interactions is not ready for translation to individualised type 2 diabetes prevention based on genetic profiling.

Polygenic Risk Scores for Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Cardiovascular disease is the leading contributor to years lost due to disability or premature death among adults. Current efforts focus on risk prediction and risk factor mitigation' which have been recognized for the past half-century. However, despite advances, risk prediction remains imprecise with persistently high rates of incident cardiovascular disease. Genetic characterization has been proposed as an approach to enable earlier and potentially tailored prevention. Rare mendelian pathogenic variants predisposing to cardiometabolic conditions have long been known to contribute to disease risk in some families. However, twin and familial aggregation studies imply that diverse cardiovascular conditions are heritable in the general population. Significant technological and methodological advances since the Human Genome Project are facilitating population-based comprehensive genetic profiling at decreasing costs. Genome-wide association studies from such endeavors continue to elucidate causal mechanisms for cardiovascular diseases. Systematic cataloging for cardiovascular risk alleles also enabled the development of polygenic risk scores. Genetic profiling is becoming widespread in large-scale research, including in health care-associated biobanks, randomized controlled trials, and direct-to-consumer profiling in tens of millions of people. Thus, individuals and their physicians are increasingly presented with polygenic risk scores for cardiovascular conditions in clinical encounters. In this scientific statement, we review the contemporary science, clinical considerations, and future challenges for polygenic risk scores for cardiovascular diseases. We selected 5 cardiometabolic diseases (coronary artery disease, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and venous thromboembolic disease) and response to drug therapy and offer provisional guidance to health care professionals, researchers, policymakers, and patients.