deCODE T2™ — A new tool in the battle against type 2 diabetes
deCODE T2™ is a genetic test for four markers — TCF7L2, PPARG, CDKAL1, and CDKN2A — known to be associated with type 2 diabetes risk. This genetic risk appears to be independent of other diabetes risk factors and can be used to adjust your patient's risk for diabetes. The magnitude of risk adjustment may range from 0.6 to 2.2 times the background risk.
The Diabetes Prevention Program, a prospective NIH-sponsored clinical trial1, has shown that taking preventive action — weight loss and/or treatment with metformin — is effective in preventing the conversion from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes. In this same population, individuals with certain genetic risk variants had a clearly increased risk of conversion, but lifestyle intervention and metformin were effective at counteracting this genetic risk.2
deCODE T2™ can help you decide which patients to treat more aggressively with lifestyle intervention and/or drug treatment.
1. NIDDK:NDIC. Diabetes Prevention Program. Available at: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/. Accessed: July 18, 2008.
2. Florez JC, Jablonski KA, N Bayley, et al. TCF7L2 polymorphisms and progression to diabetes in the diabetes prevention program. N Engl J Med.2006;355(3):241-250.