The ability of a panel of 18 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) known to be related to diabetes to predict new cases of type 2 diabetes was explored in 2,377 participants of the Framingham Offspring Study. A genotype score from the number of risk alleles was created and the authors tested whether the genotype score could discriminate the risk of diabetes when used alone or in combination with clinical risk factors. The genotype score was 17.7±2.7 among subjects who developed diabetes and 17.1±2.6 among individuals who remained diabetes-free during the 28 years of follow-up. Moreover, the sex-adjusted odds ratio for diabetes was 1.12 per risk allele (95% CI, 1.07-1.17). Several statistical models revealed that the genotype score caused an appropriate risk reclassification of, at the most, 4% of individuals. Therefore, results of the present study suggest that genetic information in the context of risk factors measured in adulthood does not help to refine the prediction of diabetes risk.
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