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Circulating Fetuin-A and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis

  • Janine Kröger
  • , Karina Meidtner
  • , Norbert Stefan
  • , Marcela Guevara
  • , Nicola D Kerrison
  • , Eva Ardanaz
  • , Dagfinn Aune
  • , Heiner Boeing
  • , Miren Dorronsoro
  • , Courtney Dow
  • , Guy Fagherazzi
  • , Paul W Franks
  • , Heinz Freisling
  • , Marc J Gunter
  • , José María Huerta
  • , Rudolf Kaaks
  • , Timothy J Key
  • , Kay Tee Khaw
  • , Vittorio Krogh
  • , Tilman Kühn
  • Francesca Romana Mancini, Amalia Mattiello, Peter M Nilsson, Anja Olsen, Kim Overvad, Domenico Palli, J Ramón Quirós, Olov Rolandsson, Carlotta Sacerdote, Núria Sala, Elena Salamanca-Fernández, Ivonne Sluijs, Annemieke Mw Spijkerman, Anne Tjonneland, Konstantinos K Tsilidis, Rosario Tumino, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Nita G Forouhi, Stephen J Sharp, Claudia Langenberg, Elio Riboli, Matthias B Schulze, Nicholas J Wareham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Fetuin-A, a hepatic-origin protein, is strongly positively associated with risk of type 2 diabetes in human observational studies, but it is unknown whether this association is causal. We aimed to study the potential causal relation of circulating fetuin-A to risk of type 2 diabetes in a Mendelian randomization study with single nucleotide polymorphisms located in the fetuin-A–encoding AHSG gene. We used data from eight European countries of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-InterAct case-cohort study including 10,020 incident cases. Plasma fetuin-A concentration was measured in a subset of 965 subcohort participants and 654 case subjects. A genetic score of the AHSG single nucleotide polymorphisms was strongly associated with fetuin-A (28% explained variation). Using the genetic score as instrumental variable of fetuin-A, we observed no significant association of a 50 mg/mL higher fetuin-A concentration with diabetes risk (hazard ratio 1.02 [95% CI 0.97, 1.07]). Combining our results with those from the DIAbetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis (DIAGRAM) consortium (12,171 case subjects) also did not suggest a clear significant relation of fetuin-A with diabetes risk. In conclusion, although there is mechanistic evidence for an effect of fetuin-A on insulin sensitivity and secretion, this study does not support a strong, relevant relationship between circulating fetuin-A and diabetes risk in the general population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1200-1205
Number of pages6
JournalDiabetes
Volume67
Issue number6
Early online date2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2018

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