BioCentury
ARTICLE | Cover Story

Marking diabetes

April 21, 2011 7:00 AM UTC

A Massachusetts team has identified amino acid1and triacylglyceride2 signatures that can predict increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The researchers now plan to look at whether the signatures can distinguish which prediabetic patients will benefit from lifestyle changes or therapeutic intervention. The key unknown is whether a cutoff value for the signatures can be identified that will prospectively predict an individual's risk or response to treatment.

"We know that the current tools for diagnosing diabetes-glucose and HbA1c-are not particularly good at predicting diabetes," said Steven Watkins, CSO of Tethys Bioscience Inc. "This is because changes in the blood levels of these markers tend to occur late in the disease process."...