Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Generation of High Quality Chromatin Immunoprecipitation DNA Template for High-throughput Sequencing ChIP-seq
Published on: April 19, 2013
Triglyceride-Increasing Alleles Associated with Protection against Type-2 Diabetes
Yann C Klimentidis1, Akshay Chougule1, Amit Arora1
1Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
None:
Elevated plasma triglyceride (TG) levels are an established risk factor for type-2 diabetes (T2D). However, recent studies have hinted at the possibility that genetic risk for TG may paradoxically protect against T2D. In this study, we examined the association of genetic risk for TG with incident T2D, and the interaction of baseline TG with TG genetic risk on incident T2D in 13,247 European-Americans (EA) and 3,238 African-Americans (AA) from three prospective cohort studies. A TG genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated based on 31 validated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We considered several baseline covariates, including body- mass index (BMI) and lipid traits. Among EA and AA, we find, as expected, that baseline levels of TG are strongly positively associated with incident T2D (p<2 x 10-(10)). However, the TG GRS is negatively associated with T2D (p=0.013), upon adjusting for only race, in the full dataset. Upon additionally adjusting for age, sex, BMI, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and TG, the TG GRS is significantly and negatively associated with T2D incidence (p=7.0 x 10(-8)), with similar trends among both EA and AA. No single SNP appears to be driving this association. We also find a significant statistical interaction of the TG GRS with TG (pi(nteraction) = 3.3 x 10-(4)), whereby the association of TG with incident T2D is strongest among those with low genetic risk for TG. Further research is needed to understand the likely pleiotropic mechanisms underlying these findings, and to clarify the causal relationship between T2D and TG.
Related Concept Videos
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Diabetes Mellitus: Overview and Type I Subtype
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin, and individuals with...
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Starch accounts for approximately 60% of the carbohydrates consumed by humans. Since amylase enzymes cannot function in the stomach's acidic environment, starch can only be digested in the mouth and small intestine. Simple sugars are found naturally in milk and fruits in...
Pathophysiology of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by autoimmune-mediated destruction of pancreatic β cells, with environmental factors potentially triggering this process in genetically susceptible individuals. Despite many not having a family history, certain genes increase susceptibility,...
Diabetes: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Complications
Pharmacogenomics: Identification of New Drug Targets

