NEWS A new research project may lead to opportunities to prevent type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Umeå University collaborate with Chalmers in Gothenburg and universities in other countries, and individuals from South Africa, Ghana and Sweden participate in the studies. The project has been granted SEK 4,500,000 in grants from Vinnova.
A first goal of the studies is to identify proteins and metabolic products in the blood that can cause impaired glucose metabolism among individuals, including possible gender differences. The next step is the analysis of cost-effective ways to conduct dietary interventions, i.e. to try to achieve as healthy a diet as possible in risk groups for the development of type 2 diabetes.
Tommy Olsson, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå Center for Molecular Medicine.
ImageMattias Pettersson”In the short term, we must find groups that can accept the dietary advice, in order to then be able to give general advice for the entire population. Here in our Western society, it will probably be about variants of the Mediterranean diet. In South Africa, a key is to try to reduce carbohydrate intake”, says Tommy Olsson, professor at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, and responsible for the Swedish part.
The studies include 1,000 individuals in South Africa, 500 who moved from Ghana to the Netherlands and 900 in Sweden. The analyzes of biomarkers for the development of impaired glucose metabolism, including type 2 diabetes, are done with so-called proteomics (examination of large amounts of data on proteins) and metabolomics (analysis of small molecules).
In health economic analyses, the cost-effectiveness of various possible dietary changes is studied. This is related to what is deemed feasible in a realistic way, via semi-structured interviews in accordance with question areas in a predetermined interview guide. This is done with individuals deemed to be in the risk group for developing type 2 diabetes as well as patient organizations and health care organizations.
From Umeå, associate professor Elin Chorell, associate professor Julia Otten and professor Lars Lindholm from the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine and Åsa Hörnsten from the Department of Nursing are also included in the project, which is conducted in close collaboration with the SCAPIS project. Internationally, the University of Cape Town/South African MRC and the University of Heidelberg are responsible for participating cohorts (population groups). Metabolomics is done at Chalmers and in Umeå, and proteomics is done in collaboration with SciLifeLab.
“It's fun to collaborate with other countries and continents. Umeå has a great breadth in the area and can contribute a lot thanks to, among other things, the Västerbotten project, where many individuals have carried out glucose loading”, says Tommy Olsson.
The duration of the project is November 2022 to December 2025.
