Diabetes News January 27th 2012

Retinal Vascular Geometry Predicts Incident Renal Dysfunction in Young People With Type 1 Diabetes
Retinal venular geometry independently predicted incident renal dysfunction in young people with type 1 diabetes. These noninvasive retinal measures may help to elucidate early mechanistic pathways for microvascular complications (Diabetes Care)

Increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver
Our findings demonstrate that ultrasound-diagnosed non-alcoholic fatty liver is associated with a higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with Type 1 diabetes, independently of several risk factors, including the components of the metabolic syndrome (Diabetic Medicine)

How much does screening bring forward the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and reduce complications? Twelve year follow-up of the Ely cohort
Diabetes screening resulted in cases being identified on average 3.3 years earlier, a difference significantly shorter than previous estimates. Earlier diagnosis did not appear to impact on health outcomes. Further evidence is needed to justify the introduction of population-based screening (Diabetologia)

Screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Are the Criteria Proposed by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups Cost-Effective?
The IADPSG recommendation for glucose screening in pregnancy is cost-effective. The model is most sensitive to the likelihood of preventing future diabetes in patients identified with GDM using postdelivery counseling and intervention (Diabetes Care)

Proposed new diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes – a pause for thought?
New criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes promulgated by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADSPG) have been adopted by a number of groups, including the American Diabetes Association. These criteria will increase two- to three-fold the number of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have enormous resource implications (Diabetic Medicine)

Integrated Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Depression Treatment to Improve Medication Adherence: A Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized controlled trial of a simple, brief intervention integrating treatment of type 2 diabetes and depression was successful in improving outcomes in primary care. An integrated approach to depression and type 2 diabetes treatment may facilitate its deployment in real-world practices with competing demands for limited resources (Annals of Family Medicine)

Statin Use and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Postmenopausal Women in the Women’s Health Initiative
Statin medication use in postmenopausal women is associated with an increased risk for DM. This may be a medication class effect. Further study by statin type and dose may reveal varying risk levels for new-onset DM in this population (Archives of Internal Medicine)

FRAX underestimates fracture risk in patients with diabetes
FRAX underestimated observed major osteoporotic and hip fracture risk in diabetics (adjusted for competing mortality) but demonstrated good concordance with observed fractures for nondiabetics. We conclude that diabetes confers an increased risk of fracture that is independent of FRAX derived with BMD. This suggests that diabetes might be considered for inclusion in future iterations of FRAX (Journal of Bone and Mineral Research)

Reversal of type 1 diabetes via islet beta cell regeneration following immune modulation by cord blood-derived multipotent stem cells
Stem Cell Educator therapy is safe, and in individuals with moderate or severe T1D, a single treatment produces lasting improvement in metabolic control. Initial results indicate Stem Cell Educator therapy reverses autoimmunity and promotes regeneration of islet beta cells (BMC Medicine)

Localisation and composition of skeletal muscle diacylglycerol predicts insulin resistance in humans
These data indicate that both cellular localisation and composition of DAG influence the relationship to insulin sensitivity. Our results suggest that only saturated DAG in skeletal muscle membranes are related to insulin resistance in humans (Diabetologia)

Acute and chronic animal models for the evaluation of anti-diabetic agents
The present review highlights the various methods of inducing diabetes in experimental animals in order to test the newer drugs for their anti-diabetic potential – Provisional PDF (Cardiovascular Diabetology)