Stratified medicine for diabetes

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Stratification of diabetic patients receiving SGLT2 inhibitors

  • IRAS ID

    151917

  • Contact name

    Paul Millar

  • Contact email

    millar-p1@email.ulster.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Western Health and Social Care Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 6 months, 14 days

  • Research summary

    Elevated blood glucose levels are considered a defining characteristic of diabetes mellitus and leads to increased glucose in blood. In turn this accounts for numerous complications such as kidney disease, nerve disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetic eye disease. Conditions like these lead to a decline in health and often result in fatality, hence the importance that glycaemic control is a fundamental aspect in any therapy designed to treat diabetes mellitus. There are many therapies available for sufferers of diabetes, however, the number of diagnosis each year continue to rise. More recent advances have led to the sodium glucose transporters (located in the kidney) being the target for novel glucose-lowering drugs, such as Dapagliflozin. The kidneys will filter 180g of glucose daily and be reabsorbed by the SGLT's (Sodium glucose transporters). The new class of drug has been shown to successfully inhibit these transport proteins, thus, preventing the reabsorption of glucose, ultimately expelling it in urine.
    With all pharmacological intervention there is great variability ranging from non-responders to highly toxic adverse effects. The reasons for this variability is predominately due to single nucleotide polymorphisms occurring, where a single base has changed in a gene therefore effecting how that gene behaves and ultimately resulting in a gain or loss of function.
    The gene that codes for SGLT2 is named SLC5A2 and consists of 7,271 individual bases that could display variation between each person. This investigation will collect buccal swabs from diabetic patients and the SLC5A2 gene will be sequenced and analysed for any variation. Following this sequence analysis, urine samples will be collected from 100 of the previous participants that have shown any variance of interest and gene expression will be measured through retrospectively of the sequencing results. The gene expression will be measured by isolation of proximal tubule cells from urine.

  • REC name

    HSC REC A

  • REC reference

    14/NI/1123

  • Date of REC Opinion

    14 Nov 2014

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion