Positional cloning of an obesity/diabetes susceptibility gene(s) on chromosome 11 in Pima Indians.

Prior results from our genomic scan in Pima Indians indicated an obesity locus in a region on chromosome 11q23-24 that was also linked to diabetes. Bivariate linkage analysis for the combined phenotype "diabesity" gave the strongest evidence for linkage (LOD = 5.2).

Mutations in the genes for hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1alpha, -4alpha, -1beta, and -3beta; the dimerization cofactor of HNF-1; and insulin promoter factor 1 are not common causes of early-onset type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians.

Objective: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a genetically heterogeneous subtype of type 2 diabetes characterized by an early age at onset and autosomal dominant inheritance. MODY can result from heterozygous mutations in at least five genes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether alterations in known MODY genes and two MODY candidate genes contribute to the development of early-onset type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians.

Interstitial insulin concentrations determine glucose uptake rates but not insulin resistance in lean and obese men.

Insulin action and obesity are both correlated with the density of muscle capillary supply in humans. Since the altered muscle anatomy in the obese might affect interstitial insulin concentrations and reduce insulin action, we have cannulated peripheral lymphatic vessels in lean and obese males, and compared peripheral lymph insulin concentrations with whole body glucose uptake during a euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp. Lymph insulin concentrations in the lower limb averaged only 34% of arterial insulin concentrations during 150 min of insulin infusion.

Body composition, adipocyte size, free fatty acid concentration, and glucose tolerance in children of diabetic pregnancies.

Previous studies show that children of women who are diabetic during pregnancy are more obese and have a higher prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) than children of women who first developed NIDDM greater than 1 yr after the pregnancy (prediabetic mothers) and children of women who have never developed diabetes (nondiabetic mothers). To determine whether lean and obese children of glucose-intolerant pregnancies can be distinguished from similar children of glucose-tolerant pregnancies, we measured body composition, abdominal and gluteal adipocyte size, fasting free fatty acid (FFA), and fasting and stimulated glucose and insulin concentrations during an oral glucose tolerance test in prepubertal children of glucose-intolerant and prediabetic mothers. Each group ranged in adipocity from 6 to 40% body fat.