Diabetes Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Diabetes, including details on insulin, type i, type ii, diet, treatment, prevention.

Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and type 2 diabetes: a study of 897 cases and 1010 controls.

Chinnery PF, Mowbray C, Patel SK, Elson JL, Sampson M, Hitman GA, McCarthy MI, Hattersley AT, Walker M

Mitochondrial Research Group, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. p.f.chinnery@ncl.ac.uk

Mitochondria play a central role in the secretion of insulin by pancreatic beta-cells, and pathogenic mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can cause diabetes. The aetiology of type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic component, raising the possibility that genetic variants of mtDNA alter the risk of developing the disorder. Recent studies have produced conflicting results. By studying 897 UK cases of type 2 diabetes and 1010 population-matched controls, it is shown that European mtDNA haplogroups are unlikely to play a major role in the risk of developing the disorder.

Published 6 June 2007 in J Med Genet, 44(6): e80.
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