Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2009 Feb;12(1):44-52.
doi: 10.1375/twin.12.1.44.

Genetic influences on type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome related quantitative traits in Mauritius

Jeremy B Jowett  1 , Vincent P Diego, Navaratnam Kotea, Sudhir Kowlessur, Pierrot Chitson, Thomas D Dyer, Paul Zimmet, John Blangero
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Genetic influences on type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome related quantitative traits in Mauritius

Jeremy B Jowett et al. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2009 Feb.

Abstract

Epidemiological studies report a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in the island nation of Mauritius. The Mauritius Family Study was initiated to examine heritable factors that contribute to these high rates of prevalence and consists of 400 individuals in 24 large extended multigenerational pedigrees. Anthropometric and biochemical measurements relating to the metabolic syndrome were undertaken in addition to family and lifestyle based information for each individual. Variance components methods were used to determine the heritability of the type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome related quantitative traits. The cohort was made up of 218 females (55%) and 182 males with 22% diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and a further 30% having impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose. Notably BMI was not significantly increased in those with type 2 diabetes (P= .12), however a significant increase in waist circumference was observed in these groups (P= .02). The heritable proportion of trait variance was substantial and greater than values previously published for hip circumference, LDL and total cholesterol, diastolic and systolic blood pressure and serum creatinine. Height, weight and BMI heritabilities were all in the upper range of those previously reported. The phenotypic characteristics of the Mauritius family cohort are similar to those previously reported in the Mauritian population with a high observed prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes. A high heritability for key type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome related phenotypes (range 0.23 to 0.68), suggest the cohort will have utility in identifying genes that influence these quantitative traits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Almasy L, Blangero J. Multipoint quantitative-trait linkage analysis in general pedigrees. Am J Hum Genet. 1998;62(5):1198–1211. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Altmuller J, Palmer LJ, Fischer G, Scherb H, Wjst M. Genomewide scans of complex human diseases: true linkage is hard to find. Am J Hum Genet. 2001;69(5):936–950. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arcos-Burgos M, Muenke M. Genetics of population isolates. Clin Genet. 2002;61(4):233–247. - PubMed
    1. Blangero J. Localization and identification of human quantitative trait loci: king harvest has surely come. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2004;14(3):233–240. - PubMed
    1. Blangero J, Williams JT, Almasy L. Variance component methods for detecting complex trait loci. Adv Genet. 2001;42:151–181. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms