Genome-Wide Association Analysis Identifies Loci for Type 2 Diabetes and Triglyceride Levels

New strategies for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D) require improved insight into disease etiology. We analyzed 386,731 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1464 patients with T2D and 1467 matched controls, each characterized for measures of glucose metabolism, lipids, obesity, and blood pressure. With collaborators (FUSION and WTCCC/UKT2D), we identified and confirmed three loci associatedwith T2D - in a noncoding region near CDKN2Aand CDKN2B, in an intronof IGF2BP2, and an intronof CDKAL1- and replicated associationsnear HHEX and in SLC30A8found by a recent whole-genome associationstudy. We identified and confirmed associationof a SNP in an intronof glucokinase regulatory protein(GCKR) with serum triglycerides. The discovery of associatedvariants in unsuspected genes and outside coding regions illustrates the ability of genome-wide association studiesto provide potentially important clues to the pathogenesis of common diseases. (Less)