Research

Hormonal

Common genetic variants in genes primarily influencing pancreatic beta-cell function (specifically ABCC8, KCNJ11, SLC2A2, HNF4A, and INS) significantly alter the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

If you have a family history of Type 2 diabetes, you likely carry genetic variants that affect how your pancreas secretes insulin or how your cells respond to it. This is not a life sentence, but it is a biological reality. You may need to be more vigilant with diet and exercise than someone without this genetic load to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, as your body may have less reserve in beta-cell function.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Polymorphisms in five of 15 genes (33%) encoding molecules known to primarily influence pancreatic b-cell function—ABCC8 (sulphonylurea receptor), KCNJ11 (KIR6.2), SLC2A2 (GLUT2), HNF4A (HNF4a), and INS (insulin)—significantly altered disease risk
Inês Barroso et al. · PLoS Biology · 2003

Why this rating

Large-scale candidate gene association study with 2,134 subjects and independent quantitative trait validation.

Source

Candidate Gene Association Study in Type 2 Diabetes Indicates a Role for Genes Involved in β-Cell Function as Well as Insulin Action

Inês Barroso et al. · PLoS Biology · 2003

DOI 10.1371/journal.pbio.0000020

case_control · n=2134Cited 326×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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