A cross-sectional study of young-onset diabetes in 2 UK ethnic groups
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cross-sectional study to characterise young-onset diabetes in two UK ethnic groups
IRAS ID
120070
Contact name
Nick Oliver
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Research summary
Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a rare but frequently misdiagnosed genetic form of diabetes requiring expert and tailored treatment. Misdiagnosis results in incorrect management, impacting on health, quality of life and complications. For example some forms of MODY require no treatment at all, whilst in others insulin treatment may be stopped and diabetes treated with tablets alone.
Diagnosis is challenging as clinical characteristics of MODY overlap with commoner forms of diabetes and undertaking routine genetic screening is prohibitively expensive. Diagnosis is a particular challenge in ethnic groups and data from the national MODY registry reveal significant under-diagnosis.
A MODY probability calculator, which uses clinical and biochemical data to predict the likelihood of MODY, has been shown to improve detection of MODY. Those scoring highly are selected to undergo genetic testing. However, this approach has not been developed, studied or evaluated in South Asian (SA) individuals , where diabetes subtype assignment poses a greater challenge due to the higher proportion of young-onset type 2 diabetes.
The aim of this project is to identify cases of MODY in UK-based SA and European people, who are diagnosed with diabetes at a young age, and to characterise and compare the other subtypes of diabetes existing in these groups to help better diagnosis of diabetes suptypes in the future.Objectives:
1. Determine and compare the frequency of MODY and its mutations in SA and European men, women and children with young-onset diabetes in the UK.
2. Determine the clinical and biochemical characteristics of different diabetes subtypes in these individuals and to compare and contrast findings across the two ethnic groups.
3. To evaluate the utility of a previously described MODY probability calculator in a young SA population.REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/0944
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion