Variant gene linked to type 1 diabetes

Researchers have identified a variation in a gene that is associated with type 1 diabetes, the form of the disease in which insulin production by the pancreas is deficient.

The new discovery lends support to the idea that an abnormal response to a viral infection knocks out insulin-producing cells, because the affected gene encodes an enzyme called interferon-induced helicase (IFIH1) that plays a role in the anti-viral immune response.

To date, only a few genes have been linked to the risk of type 1 diabetes, Dr. John A. Todd, from Cambridge Institute for Medical Research in the UK, and colleagues note in the research journal Nature Genetics.

The researchers discovered the IFIH1 variant after conducting a genome-wide search for genetic variants possibly linked to type 1 diabetes. The impact of the variant on diabetes risk was confirmed in a study of more than 10,000 individuals and an analysis of nearly 1800 affected families.

The "compelling" statistics from these large numbers justify further studies, the researchers say, to see if functional changes in the gene brought about by the variation could lead to type 1 diabetes.

SOURCE: Nature Genetics, online May 14, 2006.