Immigrants from the Middle-East have a different form of Type 2 diabetes compared with Swedish patients.

Summary, in English

AIMS: To compare the clinical characteristics of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) between immigrants from the Middle-East and Swedish patients. METHODS: The study group included 450 consecutive patients with T2DM, 379 Swedish-born aged 61 +/- 12 years and 71 patients originally from the Middle-East aged 50 +/- 11 years from the diabetes clinic of Malmo University Hospital. RESULTS: Onset of diabetes had occurred 12 years earlier in the Middle-East immigrants compared with the Swedish-born patients (43 +/- 10 vs. 55 +/- 12 years, P < 0.001). Immigrants had lower fasting serum C-peptide [0.7 (0.1-2.6) vs. 0.9 (0.1-4.0) nmol/l, P = 0.013], lower homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-beta[1.7 (0.1-9.1) vs. 2.7 (0.1-59.0), P = 0.010], lower HOMA-IR [0.4 (0.02-1.19) vs. 0.4 (0.01-2.8), P = 0.005] than the Swedish group. A first-degree family history of diabetes was reported in 61% of immigrants, compared with 47% of Swedish-born (P = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Immigrants from the Middle-East have an earlier onset, stronger family history and more rapid decline of pancreatic B-cell function than Swedish patients, suggesting that they have a different form of T2DM compared with Swedish patients.

• Author: Forouzan Glans; Targ Elgzyri; Nael Shaat; Eero Lindholm; Jan Apelqvist; Leif Groop
• Department/s: Translational Muscle Research
• Publishing year: 2008
• Language: English
• Pages: 303-307
• Publication/Series: Diabetic Medicine: A journal of the British Diabetic Association
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 3
• Links: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18307458?dopt=Abstract; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02366.x
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Topic: Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Status: Published
• Research group: Genomics, Diabetes and Endocrinology
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1464-5491