SNPs and Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is considered a multifactorial trait in which multiple genetic and environmental factors interact in complex, non-linear ways to produce the common phenotype of hyperglycemia. Until recently, research efforts to identify the genetic variants that contribute to individual differences in predisposition to T2D were met with slow progress and limited success. Over the past three years, the advent of genome-wide association (GWA) scan has ushered in a new era regarding the capacity of identifying common genetic variants that contribute to predisposition to complex multifactorial phenotypes such as type 2 diabetes. The identification of the variants, genes and pathways implicated in T2D pathogenesis might facilitate its diagnosis and prevention and offer a route to new therapies. The aim of this paper is to review the literature regarding SNPs that have been associated with T2D predisposition