Type 2 diabetes in young people ages 10 to19 has more than doubled in the past 20 years, yet it remains difficult for physicians to predict who will be diagnosed and who will improve with treatment. A newly published study from the University of Oklahoma shows that measuring the circulating abundance of microRNAs – which affect insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas – is likely as effective as measuring the level of sugar in the blood for determining how a young person with the condition will fare. Jeanie Tryggestad, M.
D., an associate professor of pediatrics in the OU College of Medicine, led the study, which is published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism . It marks one of the first times microRNA abundance has been explored to predict the progression of Type 2 diabetes in youth.
The specific microRNAs in the study are involved in insulin resistance and other actions that can stress beta cells or cause their death. The research is significant because it points to a process that is necessary to understand in order to ultimately design a strategy for prevention. Type 2 diabetes in youth is so aggressive, and the decline of beta cell function in youth is much more than we see in adults.
We believe that predicting what will cause beta cell dysfunction, and eventually preventing that dysfunction, is one of the keys for preventing or treating Type 2 diabetes." Jeanie Tryggestad, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Oklah.