The research carried out by the large international Metformin Genetics Consortium, including researcher from the International University of Sarajevo, has identified a genetic variant that alters how well metformin works in Type 2 diabetic patients, and is published in the journal Nature Genetics.
This is the largest personalized medicine study on an anti-diabetic drug performed to date. Professor Ewan Pearson from the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee and Professor Kathleen Giacomini at the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, led the study which investigated how well metformin worked in 13,123 participants of different ethnicity.
Research team from Bosnia and Herzegovina, lead by Professor Sabina Semiz from the Genetics and Bioengineering Program at the International University of Sarajevo, and Prof. Dr. Adlija Causevic, Dr. Tanja Dujic and colleagues from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sarajevo, contributed to this multiethnic study by analyzing specific genetic variants in diabetic patients treated with metformin, recruited in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Zelija Velija Asimi at the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo.
Metformin is the first-line drug for treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that overweight people carrying two copies of a genetic variant responded so much better to metformin that it was equivalent to receiving an extra 550 mg of the drug.
Professor Semiz said, “We are thrilled that our research findings represent a significant step towards personalised, targeted therapy for Type 2 diabetes. We are also excited that we have contributed to this multiethnic study and demonstrated the research in Bosnia and Herzegovina can lead to the high impact results. We have started with the small steps by establishing a very constructive collaboration with our colleagues here in Bosnia and Herzegovina that lead to the international collaboration within the Metformin Genetics Consortium.”
The research has been funded by Wellcome, Diabetes UK, the National Institutes of Health in the US, as well as the Council of Ministers/Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Ministry for Education and Science of Bosnia and Herzegovina awarded to Professor Sabina Semiz.
Nature Genetics publishes the very highest quality research in genetics, with an impact factor of 32. It encompasses genetic and functional genomics studies on human and plant traits and on other model organisms.
For more information, please visit: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3632.html
