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Review
. 2024 May 15;15(5):876-885.
doi: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i5.876.

Challenges and pitfalls of youth-onset type 2 diabetes

Lavinia La Grasta Sabolic  1   2 , Sanda Marusic  3 , Maja Cigrovski Berkovic  4
Affiliations
Review

Challenges and pitfalls of youth-onset type 2 diabetes

Lavinia La Grasta Sabolic et al. World J Diabetes. .

Abstract

The incidence and prevalence of youth-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are increasing. The rise in frequency and severity of childhood obesity, inclination to sedentary lifestyle, and epigenetic risks related to prenatal hyperglycemia exposure are important drivers of the youth-onset T2DM epidemic and might as well be responsible for the early onset of diabetes complications. Indeed, youth-onset T2DM has a more extreme metabolic phenotype than adult-onset T2DM, with greater insulin resistance and more rapid deterioration of beta cell function. Therefore, intermediate complications such as microalbuminuria develop in late childhood or early adulthood, while end-stage complications develop in mid-life. Due to the lack of efficacy and safety data, several drugs available for the treatment of adults with T2DM have not been approved in youth, reducing the pharmacological treatment options. In this mini review, we will try to address the present challenges and pitfalls related to youth-onset T2DM and summarize the available interventions to mitigate the risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications.

Keywords: Beta cell failure; Complications; Insulin resistance; Risk factors; Therapy; Youth-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Drivers of youth-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus. IR: Insulin resistance; PCOS: Polycystic ovary syndrome; MASLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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