Longitudinal study reveals plasma glycans associations with prediabetes/type 2 diabetes in KORA study
Authors' conclusion
Plasma N-glycans are diagnostic of early glycemic deterioration and supported by genetic and causal evidence, highlighting their potential as biomarkers for diabetes risk stratification.
Study context
- Population
- Participants of the KORA cohort, followed over 7 years with N-glycan measurements at F4 and FF4KORA cohort
- Participants
- 473 participants
- Exposure
- Progressed to prediabetes/T2D vs remained normoglycemic
- Prediabetes/T2Dn = 231
- Normoglycemicn = 242reference
- Outcome
- Associations of plasma N-glycans with incident prediabetes/T2D
- Follow-up
- 7 years
Methodological detailslongitudinal, 7-year follow-up, machine learning classification, Mendelian randomization, glycan quantitative trait loci (glycan-QTL) analysis
- Longitudinal
- 7-year follow-up
- Machine learning classification
- Mendelian randomization
- glycan-QTL analysis
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Glycans associated with progression to prediabetes/T2D
Glycans associated with diabetes progression, basic model
19
Glycans remaining significant after full adjustment
12
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Metabolic traits
- Glycans such as GP18 and GP32 were also linked to metabolic traits
Classification performance of glycan-clinical model · FF4
- AUC
- 0.895
Mendelian randomization
- Mendelian randomization (MR) supported causal roles for GP18, GP19 and S1
Glycan-QTL analysis
- SNPs and genes (FUT8, ST3GAL4) associated with key glycans
Original publication
Longitudinal study reveals plasma glycans associations with prediabetes/type 2 diabetes in KORA study. Cardiovasc Diabetol. Published 6 August 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →