Michigan Medicine is participating in a nationwide study funded by the National Institutes of Health that will seek to discover the cause of several unusual forms of diabetes. For years, doctors and researchers have been stymied by cases of diabetes that differ from known types. Through research efforts at Michigan Medicine and 19 other U.S. research institutions, the study aims to discover new forms of diabetes, understand what makes them different, and identify their causes.

The Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network, or RADIANT, plans to screen about 2,000 people with unknown or atypical forms of diabetes that do not fit the common features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

A person with atypical diabetes may be diagnosed and treated for type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but not have a history or signs consistent with their diagnosis. For example, they may be diagnosed and treated for type 2 diabetes but may not have any of the typical risk factors for this diagnosis, such as being overweight, having a family history of diabetes, or being diagnosed as an adult. Alternately, a person with atypical diabetes may respond differently than expected to the standard diabetes treatments.

Were excited to contribute to the RADIANT study through our deep commitment to understand and better treat rare and unusual forms of diabetes, says Elif Oral, M.D., an endocrinologist at Michigan Medicine. Michigan Medicinehas pioneered this field throughthe work of Dr. Stefan Fajan by defining Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young and we carried the torch in our current division through the work of Dr. Peter Arvans lab and our clinical translational studies in lipodystrophy.

RADIANT researchers will build a comprehensive resource of genetic, clinical, and descriptive data on previously unidentified forms of diabetes for the scientific and healthcare communities.

The studys researchers will collect detailed health information using questionnaires, physical exams, genetic sequencing, blood samples, and other tests. People found to have unknown forms of diabetes may receive additional testing. Some participant family members may also be invited to take part in the study.

We are thrilled that Dr. Orals team at the University of Michigan Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute has been chosen for this important study, says Martin G. Myers, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the Institute. In addition to helping to understand the causes of diabetes, Dr. Orals work has the potential to identify new and better treatments for patients in the RADIANT study and for others with diabetes.

USF is the studys coordinating center, and the lead centers include Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the University of Chicago. The Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Baylor serve as the genomic sequencing centers for the project. University of Florida, Gainesville, provides the studys laboratory services. Other participating centers are:

Support for the study is provided through NIDDK grants U54DK118638 and U54DK118612.

Excerpt from:

Michigan Medicine participates in first nationwide network to study rare forms of diabetes - University of Michigan Health System News