Susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus--from genes to prevention

Knowledge of the genetics of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has evolved tremendously over the past few years. Following advances in technology and analytical approaches, collaborative case-control genome-wide association studies have revealed up to 65 loci credibly associated with T2DM. Prospective population studies have demonstrated that aggregated genetic risk scores, so-called because they sum the genetic risk attributed to each locus, can predict incident T2DM among individuals of various age ranges and diverse ethnic backgrounds. With each set of T2DM loci discovered, increasing the number of loci in these scores has improved their predictive ability, although a prediction plateau may already have been reached. The current literature shows that intensive lifestyle interventions are effective for preventing T2DM at any level of genetic risk and might be particularly efficacious among individuals with high genetic susceptibility. By contrast, counselling to inform patients about their personal T2DM genetic risk profiles does not seem to improve motivation or attitudes that lead to positive lifestyle behaviour changes. Future studies should investigate the role of genetics for both T2DM prediction and prevention in young populations in the hope of reducing disease burden for future generations.