Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Generation of High Quality Chromatin Immunoprecipitation DNA Template for High-throughput Sequencing (ChIP-seq)
Published on: April 19, 2013
Combined effects of 17 common genetic variants on type 2 diabetes risk in a Han Chinese population
1Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Metabolism, Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 294 Tai-Yuan Road, Shanghai 200031, People's Republic of China.
Aims/Hypothesis:
The recent advent of genome-wide association studies has considerably accelerated the identification of type 2 diabetes loci. We aimed to investigate the combined effects of multiple genetic variants, alone or in combination with conventional risk factors, on type 2 diabetes and diabetes-related traits in Han Chinese.
Methods:
We genotyped 17 variants in 17 loci in a population-based Han Chinese cohort including 3,210 unrelated individuals. A genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated on the basis of these variants. The discriminatory ability was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve.
Results:
The odds ratio for type 2 diabetes and hyperglycaemia with each GRS point (per risk allele) was 1.18 (95% CI 1.12-1.23, p = 1.3 x 10(-12)) and 1.12 (95% CI 1.09-1.16, p = 7.5 x 10(-14)), respectively. Compared with participants with GRS < or =11.0 (7.63%), those with GRS > or =19.0 (8.87%) had a 4.58-fold higher risk (95% CI 2.49-8.42) of type 2 diabetes. The GRS also showed a significant association with lower beta cell function estimated by HOMA of beta cell function (p = 8.4 x 10(-10)). In addition, we observed significant interactive effects between GRS and BMI on fasting glucose and HbA(1c) levels (p = 0.04 and p = 0.03 for interaction, respectively). Discrimination of diabetes risk was improved (p < 0.001) when the GRS was added to a model including clinical risk factors. The AUCs were 0.62 and 0.77, respectively, for the GRS and conventional clinic risk factors alone, and 0.79 when the GRS was added.
Conclusions/Interpretation:
In this Han Chinese population, the GRS of 17 combined variants modestly but significantly improved discrimination of the conventional risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Related Concept Videos
Type II Diabetes I: Introduction
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Principles of Pharmacogenetics: Types of Genetic Variants
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
Type II Diabetes II: Pathophysiology
