GROUNDBREAKING new research has shed light on the heterogeneity of Type 2 diabetes (T2D), a disease with notoriously diverse progression pathways. A research team from the German Diabetes Centre (DDZ), Düsseldorf, Germany, has developed an innovative algorithm, in order to reveal new perspectives on the insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, distribution of fatty tissue, and pro-inflammatory profiles of T2D.
The revolutionary structure, originally developed in the UK, and refined in Germany, makes it possible to show different subtypes of T2D, thus demonstrating how complex the disease is. The algorithm is based on age and sex, as well as simple routine data that is available to therapists, or which can be collected easily, such as BMI, total cholesterol, or haemoglobin A1C (HbA1c). With this information, individuals that produce less insulin, or tend to exhibit insufficiently controlled hypertension or lipid metabolism disorders within the first 5 years of a diabetes diagnosis, can be identified early on. The structure also allows for visualisation of risks, such as premature mortality and specific diabetes complications.
This model is based on several years of collecting results at the DDZ, for the purpose of subtyping T2D. The continued goal for the research team is the refinement of these subtypes in the coming years, which has the potential to change diabetes treatment for patients everywhere.
Despite the need for refinement, the team concluded that this novel ability to differentiate between the subtypes of T2D using simple clinical data will “rapidly accelerate the development of new approaches to prevention and treatment, in order to ultimately identify and treat high-risk groups in a targeted manner.” Study leader, Martin Schön, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, added that the results “demonstrate that we must consider T2D in a significantly more differentiated manner, and also, therefore, that there should not only be a single treatment for everyone.”
