Familial Aggregation between the 14th and 21st Century and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in an Isolated Dutch Population

Area of Science:

• Population genetics
• Epidemiology
• Medical genetics

Background:

• Type 2 diabetes arises from complex interactions between genetic and environmental influences.
• Investigating familial and community interrelatedness offers insights into disease etiology.
• The isolated Dutch population of Urk provides a unique setting for such studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between interrelatedness and type 2 diabetes risk.
• To quantify the contribution of familial ties to diabetes incidence in an isolated community.

Main Methods:

• Construction of a comprehensive genealogical database for the Urk population (14th-21st centuries).
• Case-control study design comparing type 2 diabetes patients with matched controls.
• Utilized Kinship Coefficients (KCs) to measure interrelatedness and relative risks for relatives and spouses.

Main Results:

• Patients with type 2 diabetes exhibited significantly higher interrelatedness (higher KC) than controls.
• First, second, and third-degree relatives of patients showed an increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
• Spouses of individuals with type 2 diabetes had a substantially elevated risk (3.4-fold).

Conclusions:

• Higher interrelatedness in type 2 diabetes patients supports its contribution to disease development on Urk.
• The observed effect of interrelatedness was modest, indicating other factors are primary drivers.
• Risk patterns suggest that genetic and environmental factors beyond close familial ties are more significant contributors to type 2 diabetes on Urk.