Genetic subtypes of prediabetes, healthy lifestyle, and risk of type 2 diabetes: Prospective cohort study
Authors: Li Yang , Chen Guo-Chong , Moon Jee-Young , Arthur Rhonda , Sotres-Alvarez Daniela , Daviglus Martha L. , Pirzada Amber , Mattei Josiemer , Perreira Krista M. , Rotter Jerome I. , Taylor Kent D. , Chen Yii-Der Ida , Wassertheil-Smoller Sylvia , Wang Tao , Rohan Thomas E. , Kaufman Joel D. , Kaplan Robert , Qi Qibin 
Published: December 2022

Objectives

To cluster participants with prediabetes with five type 2 diabetes (T2D)-related partitioned polygenetic risk scores (pPRSs) and examine the risk of incident diabetes and the benefit of adherence to healthy lifestyle across clusters.

Design

Prospective cohort study

Setting

Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), US; UK Biobank (UKBB), UK.

Participants

7,227 US Hispanic/Latinos without diabetes from HCHS/SOL, including 3,677 participants with prediabetes. 400,149 non-Hispanic whites without diabetes from UKBB, including 16,284 participants with prediabetes.

Main outcome measures

Prediabetes was defined by fasting plasma glucose (fasting glucose) between 100-125 mg/dL, 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT 2h glucose) between 140-199 mg/dL, or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) between 5.7% and 6.5%. Diabetes was defined by fasting glucose levels ≥126 mg/dL, 2h glucose after OGTT ≥200 mg/dL, HbA1c ≥6.5%, current use of anti-diabetic medications, or medical record. Five pPRSs representing various pathways related to T2D were calculated based on 94 T2D-related genetic variants. Health lifestyle score was assessed with five modifiable risk factors, including body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, and diet for T2D.

Results

Using K-means consensus clustering on five pRPSs, six clusters of individuals with prediabetes were identified in HCHS/SOL, with each cluster presenting disparate patterns of pPRSs and different patterns of metabolic traits. Except cluster 3 which was not detected, the other five clusters were conformed in participants with prediabetes in UKBB, with each cluster showing the similar patterns of pPRSs to their corresponding cluster in HCHS/SOL. At baseline, proportion of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)/impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and glycemic traits in HCHS/SOL (fasting glucose, OGTT 2h glucose, and HbA1c) were not significantly different across six clusters (P=0.13, P=0.62, P=0.35, P=0.96, respectively). In UKBB, random glucose and HbA1c at baseline did not show significant difference across five clusters (P=0.43, P=0.71, respectively). Although baseline glycemic traits were similar across clusters, cluster 6, which featured a very low proinsulin score, exhibited elevated risk of incident T2D in both cohorts (risk ratio [RR]=1.39, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]=[1.10, 1.76] vs. cluster 1 in HCHS/SOL; hazard ratio [HR]=1.29, 95% CI=[1.00, 1.69] vs. cluster 1 in UKBB; Combined RR/HR=1.34 [1.13, 1.60]). To explain the elevated risk of incident T2D in cluster 6, interactions between proinsulin score and other three pPRSs (Beta-cell score, Lipodystrophy-like score, Liver-lipid score) and sum score were detected (P for interaction=0.001, 0.04, 0.02 and 0.002, respectively). Cluster 5 showed an increased risk of incident T2D in UKBB (HR=1.35 [1.05, 1.75] vs. cluster 1) and in the combined analysis with HCHS/SOL (RR/HR=1.29 [1.08, 1.53]), although its risk of T2D was not significantly different from cluster 1 in HCHS/SOL (RR=1.23 [0.96, 1.57]). Inverse associations between the lifestyle score and risk of T2D were observed across different clusters, with a suggestively stronger association in Cluster 5 compared to Cluster 1, in both cohorts. Cluster 5 showed reduced risk of incident diabetes caused by healthy lifestyle score (RR=0.65 [0.47, 0.89], HR=0.71 [0.62, 0.81], respectively. Combined RR/HR=0.70 [0.62, 0.79]). Among individuals with a healthy lifestyle, those in Cluster 5 had a similar risk of T2D compared to those in Cluster 1 (combined RR/HR=1.03 [0.91-1.18], P>0.05).

Conclusions

This study identified genetic subtypes of prediabetes which differed in risk of progression to T2D, with two subtypes showing relatively high risk of T2D over time. Favorable relationship between healthy lifestyle and risk of T2D was observed, regardless of their genetic subtypes. Participants in one subtype with higher risk of T2D may realize extra benefits in terms of risk reduction from a healthy lifestyle.