St. Joe's Research Reveals Genetic Link to Type 2 Diabetes
Monday, December 2nd 2013—HAMILTON, ON— Researchers at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton are now looking into how our genetics play a key part in the development of insulin resistance, which is a precursor to Type 2 diabetes in overweight adults.
From his research lab in downtown Hamilton, Dr. Rick Austin and his colleagues are studying how a specific gene called TDAG51 affects insulin resistance in humans with the help of mice.
TDAG51 is a gene found in humans as well as mice and has been studied at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in relation to cancer cell development and heart disease. During these studies, mice without the TDAG51 gene did not get cancer, but what researchers found was that they began to gain weight. Further to this, these same mice became resistant to insulin.
“In our study, genetically modified mice that do not express the TDAG51 gene were generated. These mice did not get cancer. However, we did find that they gained weight and became insulin resistant following aging,” says Dr. Rick Austin, Amgen Canada Research Chair in Nephrology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “We now know that this can regulate the progression of Type 2 diabetes.”
The study has determined that when the TDAG51 gene is missing in the livers of mice, the liver cells were more likely to become fat cells – regardless of weight gain or type of diet they were fed – which then led to insulin resistance. Even more interesting is that normal mice that expressed the TDAG51 gene in the liver did not develop insulin resistance under the same conditions. Diet also seems to play an important role in this process. Normal mice fed a high fat diet have dramatically reduced levels of TDAG51 in the liver and this directly associates with the development of insulin resistance.
“Based on our findings, TDAG51 is potentially a genetic marker for a pre--cursor to diabetes. This could make screening for diabetes possible. In addition, if we can determine how to keep normal levels of TDAG51 in the livers of adult humans, it could reduce insulin resistance and possibly reverse Type 2 diabetes,” says Dr. Austin.
Dr. Austin’s team is now testing to see if they can increase the levels of TDAG51 in the livers of mice with insulin resistance to reverse the outcome, which could lead to a new treatment for human patients with Type 2 diabetes.
The entire study was published in Diabetes: A Journal of the American Diabetes Association this year. The study was led by Dr. Rick Austin, Amgen Canada Research Chair in Nephrology, and completed by his research colleagues at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Charlton Campus in affiliation with McMaster University. Dr. Austin and his research team are now looking into new ways this breakthrough will positively impact patient care to help those with Type 2 diabetes.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Megan Bieksa
Senior Specialist, Media & Strategic Issues
Public Affairs Department
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
Tel: 905--522--1155, ext. 33037
Email: mbieksa@stjoes.ca
Additional Information
About St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is a regional leader in patient--centred care providing acute care, research, teaching, community and international outreach programs throughout our network. Since being founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1890, our hospitals span three specialized campuses in the Greater Hamilton Area (Charlton Campus, West 5th Campus and King Street Campus), with St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas providing long--term care and St. Joseph’s Home Care providing personalized home care traversing the reach of our region. For more information about St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, please visit www.stjoes.ca.