Genes with linkage or association with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Complex diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arise from metabolic disruptions with genetic and environmental components. Multiple genes are responsible for the genetic susceptibility to T2DM. The contribution of these genes to the diabetic phenotype may be modest, variable among different populations, and dependent on interactions with other genes and the environment. The methods of genetic dissection based on linkage, allele sharing, and linkage disequilibrium may lack the statistical power to detect weak associations in heterogeneous populations. Nevertheless, genes involved in insulin signaling, insulin secretion, insulin resistance, glucose metabolism, obesity, diabetes comorbidity and the hormone processing protease genes have been associated with T2DM. New research strategies are improving the methods of genetic dissection and include genomic sequence information to characterize profiles of sequence variants that predispose to T2DM.