Protein Markers of Diabetes Discovered in an African American Cohort

What is it about?

Proteins that can be found in human blood can participate in chemical reactions that occur in human cells and tissues. Their levels can be changed even before a person gets diabetes and could help predict who will get the disease. These proteins have mostly been studied in people who identify as White. Our study looks at these proteins in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), which is made up of people who self-identify as African Americans. By looking in a diverse population, we have found new proteins linked with diabetes and when some of these proteins are used together with known risk factors, like if someone is overweight, they help us better predict who gets diabetes. Our findings prove it is critical to include diverse groups of people in these types of protein studies to get a more complete picture of proteins that are linked to different diseases.

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