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Immune Markers Indicate Diabetes Risk and Response to Lifestyle Changes

Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2006

Immune mediators appear to be associated with development of type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, a different set of markers predicts which patients are more likely to respond to lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of diabetes.

Results of other studies have suggested that low-grade inflammation and immunological activation may be elevated in patients at high risk of diabetes.

To identify which markers may be useful, Dr. Christian Herder, at the German Diabetes Center in Dusseldorf, and other members of the prospective Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group, enrolled 522 overweight or obese subjects with impaired glucose tolerance.

Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group or a lifestyle intervention group, which included increased physical activity, reduced fat consumption, increased consumption of fiber, and weight loss.

The researchers measured blood serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A, interleukin-6, RANTES, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule.

After an average of 3.9 years, elevated CRP levels in the control group were associated with increased incidence of diabetes.

However, baseline CRP levels did not predict outcome in the lifestyle intervention group. Instead, subjects in the intervention group with low levels of RANTES and MIF were at lower risk of progression to diabetes.

Dr. Herder's group concludes that "the assessment of inflammatory and immunological markers may provide additional information about the risk of developing type 2 diabetes beyond traditional risk factors."

Source: Diabetes In Control: Diabetes 2006;55:2340-2346