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17/08/2023 - Press release

New predictor of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes opens the door to a new predictor of complications

Analyzing the environment that interacts on one of the antigens responsible for the defense of the body, immunoglobulin G (IgG), may allow progress in the prognosis of possible complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is the result of a study with the participation of the Nephrology Service of the Hospital del Mar and the Nephropaties Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, in collaboration with the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Netherlands, published in the journal Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews.

Dr. Clara Barrios

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. It can cause long-term microvascular and macrovascular complications in those who suffer from it. In this sense, inflammation, a response regulated by the immune system's anti-cancer agents, plays a determining role in these possible complications. For this reason, the study now published has analyzed the role of a specific antibody, immunoglobulin G, as a regulator of the inflammatory and non-inflammatory response to possible infections.


To do so, the researchers analyzed data from three cohorts of people with diabetes, two from the Low Countries and one from the Hospital del Mar, with more than 3,600 patients. And they have been able to prove that the different immunoglobulin G glycosylation profiles, that is, the relationship between the sugars that surround the anticholine among themselves and with the anticholine itself, function as prognostic indicators of complications derived from type 2 diabetes. Depending on this fact, one behavior or another occurs, such as microvascular complications, for example, nephropathy, various kidney pathologies, or retinopathy, which affect blood circulation to the retina, but also macrovascular, as is the case of cardiovascular pathologies.


"What the study highlights is the importance of the nutrients that surround the proteins, which are modifiable with our attitudes, and which are predictors of the possible evolution of the pathology, beyond the usual markers that we now have," explains Dr. Clara Barrios, an attending physician. Clara Barrios, associate attending physician at the Nephrology Department of the Hospital del Mar, co-coordinator of the Nephropaties Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and one of the main authors of the study. This is the first time that this relationship has been confirmed, making it a potential prognostic marker.


At the same time, this potential marker could advance diagnosis compared to current approaches. It is also possible that it could become a therapeutic target, dealing with modifiable factors through lifestyle and diet. But to get there, the researchers confirm that further studies will need to be carried out to analyze avenues for future clinical application.

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