Examining Diabetes and Metabolic Traits of Mexican...

This study examines for the first time the genetic contributions to diabetes and metabolic traits in the AIR registry sample, which is composed of Mexican American participants who reside in the Phoenix-Arizona area. The AIR registry participants were extensively phenotyped for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome measures. The prevalence of diabetes in our population was 12.3%, which was above the 8.3% of the general population [32,33]. Moreover, we observed that 34.0% of the participants were classified with pre-diabetes, which was similar to national averages that showed Mexican American adults in the United States with pre-diabetes at 36% [33]. Although a majority of the heritability estimates of the phenotypes examined in the AIR registry appears to be consistent with previously published studies [31], it is possible that heritability estimates may have been inflated since shared environmental influences were not accounted for in our analyses. It also is possible that her itability can be age-dependent, which can be underestimated when existing age dependence is present. The heritability estimates of DBP, FPG, 2hOGTT and prediabetes did not reach statistical significance in our study. Perhaps, DBP may not have reached significance due to the variability that is often observed in diastolic blood pressures within an individual [34]. For this study, every attempt had been made to measure DBP appropriately since we measured DBP twice and calculated the average.