A Genome-Wide Search for Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility Genes in West Africans: The Africa America Diabetes Mellitus (AADM) Study

Charles N. Rotimi, Guanjie Chen, Adebowale A. Adeyemo, Paulette Furbert-Harris, Debra Guass, Jie Zhou, Kate Berg, Olufemi Adegoke, Albert Amoah, Samuel Owusu, Joseph Acheampong, Kofi Agyenim-Boateng, Benjamin A. Eghan, Johnnie Oli, Godfrey Okafor, Ester Ofoegbu, Babatunde Osotimehin, Fayeofori Abbiyesuku, Thomas Johnson, Theresa RufusOlufemi Fasanmade, Rick Kittles, Harold Daniel, Yuanxiu Chen, Georgia Dunston, Francis S. Collins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly, not only in developed countries but also worldwide. We chose to study type 2 diabetes in West Africa, where diabetes is less common than in the U.S., reasoning that in an environment where calories are less abundant, incident cases of type 2 diabetes might carry a proportionately greater genetic component. Through the Africa America Diabetes Mellitus (AADM) study, we carried out a genome-wide linkage analysis of type 2 diabetes in a cohort of 343 affected sibling pairs (691 individuals) enrolled from five West African centers in two countries (Ghana: Accra and Kumasi; Nigeria: Enugu, Ibadan, and Lagos). A total of 390 polymorphic markers were genotyped, and multipoint linkage analysis was conducted using the GENEHUNTER-PLUS and ASM programs. Suggestive evidence of linkage was observed in four regions on three chromosomes (12, 19, and 20). The two largest logarithm of odds scores of 2.63 and 1.92 for chromosomes 20q13.3 and 12q24, respectively, are particularly interesting because these regions have been reported to harbor diabetes susceptibility genes in several other populations and ethnic groups. Given the history of forced migration of West African populations during the slave trade, these results should have considerable relevance to the study of type 2 diabetes in African Americans.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)838-841
Number of pages4
JournalDiabetes
Volume53
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

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