A Genome-Wide Association Search for Type 2 Diabetes Genes in African Americans

TLDR

African Americans experience a higher burden of type 2 diabetes, yet genome‑wide association studies in this population are scarce. This study aimed to identify genes linked to type 2 diabetes in African Americans. We performed a GWAS using the Affymetrix 6.0 array on 965 African‑American T2DM‑ESRD cases and 1,029 controls, then replicated the top 550 SNPs in additional cohorts and conducted a meta‑analysis of 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs achieved genome‑wide significance for association with type 2 diabetes.

Abstract

African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P