current diabetes research topics

Current Diabetes Reports

• Roopa Mehta

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Volume 24, Issue 10

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Gestational diabetes mellitus and subsequent risks of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases: the life course perspective and implications of racial disparities.

Precision Interventions Targeting the Maternal Metabolic Milieu for Healthy Pregnancies in Obesity

• Alexandra M. Niclou
• Hannah E. Cabre
• Leanne M. Redman

Napping and Obesity in Adults – What do we Know?

• Sasiwarang Goya Wannamethee

Are we Ready for Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring in the Hospital Setting? Benefits, Challenges, and Practical Approaches for Implementation

• Athena Philis-Tsimikas
• Emily Rose N. San Diego
• Cora Singleton

Lifestyle Intervention in Reducing Insulin Resistance and Preventing type 2 Diabetes in Asia Pacific Region: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Yingting Cao
• Abha Shrestha
• Tilahun Haregu

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Diabetes complications articles from across Nature Portfolio

Diabetes complications are disorders that arise as a result of the patient having diabetes. The high blood sugar levels that often present in patients with diabetes cause damage to various tissues and organs, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and can result in disorders such as diabetic retinopathy.

Latest Research and Reviews

Hemoglobin glycation index and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease: insights from a large cohort study

• Zhangyu Lin

Differences in macular thickness associated with peripheral retinal vessel whitening in diabetic patients

• Fritz Gerald P. Kalaw
• Paripoorna Sharma
• Shyamanga Borooah

Correlation between thyroid hormone sensitivity and diabetic peripheral neuropathy in euthyroid patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

• Guixia Wang

IAPP - oligomerisation levels in plasma of people with type 2 diabetes

• Fabian Rehn
• Victoria Kraemer-Schulien
• Dieter Willbold

Organismal metabolism regulates the expansion of oncogenic PIK3CA mutant clones in normal esophagus

Reducing the competitive advantage conferred by driver mutations can abrogate expansions of mutant clones in healthy tissue in mice. This suggests ways to prevent cancer and other diseases that are associated with somatic mutations in humans.

• Albert Herms
• Bartomeu Colom
• Philip H. Jones

Predicting 1, 2 and 3 year emergent referable diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy using deep learning

Nderitu et al. present deep learning systems developed to predict emergent referable diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy over 1, 2 and 3 years. Using validated tabular, image and multimodal systems they aim to individualise risk-based screening.

• Paul Nderitu
• Joan M. Nunez do Rio
• Timothy L. Jackson

News and Comment

The promising potential of gene therapy for diabetes mellitus.

Gene therapy holds tremendous promise for treating a wide range of hereditary and acquired diseases by delivering exogenous therapeutic nucleotide sequences into specific cells or tissues. Recent advances support the notion that gene therapy could offer a long-term cure for diabetes mellitus, something that current conventional pharmacotherapies cannot achieve.

• Stefan R. Bornstein
• J. Fraser Wright
• Charlotte Steenblock

G6PD deficiency and diabetes complications

Years lived with and years lost to multiple long-term condition combinations that include diabetes

We introduced time-based metrics to analyze multiple long-term condition (MLTC) combinations of two or more conditions that include diabetes, among adults in England. We calculated the median age of MLTC onset and years of life lived with and lost to the MLTC, and examined MLTC burdens from both individual perspectives and community perspectives.

The GLP-1 receptor agonist revolution comes to nephrology

Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists improve glucose control, promote weight loss and reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The FLOW study now provides unequivocal evidence of kidney protective effects with semaglutide in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease.

• Merlin C. Thomas
• Mark E. Cooper

Sex differences in diabetic kidney disease explained

• Claire Greenhill

Enhancing glycaemic control with impetus on weight management: Observing for early worsening of diabetic retinopathy

• Sarita Jacob
• George I. Varughese

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Clinical Research on Type 2 Diabetes: A Promising and Multifaceted Landscape

Type 2 diabetes constitutes an imposing epidemiological, economic, and scientific global challenge. The chronic complications of type 2 diabetes are a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide [ 1 , 2 ]. Clinical research is the main way to gain knowledge about long-term diabetic complications and reduce the burden of diabetes. This allows for designing effective programs for screening and follow-up and fine-targeted therapeutic interventions. However, new research methodologies are needed to obtain more accurate and useful insights into the biological and clinical processes involved in diabetic complication development.

During the last few years, new approaches for clinical research have incorporated digital tools to analyze the complex physiopathological background of type 2 diabetes. In this Special Issue, entitled “ Clinical Research on Type 2 Diabetes and Its Complications ” and published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine ( https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm/special_issues/Type_2_Diabetes_Complications ), some valuable digital methodologies were used in different studies focusing on the type 2 diabetes syndrome. Novel machine learning techniques for predicting long-term complications are one of these approaches, as the studies of Huang, Rashid, and Shin et al. depict [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. The data presented by these authors suggest that machine learning may be more accurate in predicting diabetic microvascular complications than traditional methods. Additionally, digital tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning can be implemented through an automated and rapid process.

Among the frequent causes of frustration for people with diabetes and the health care providers involved in their management is the delayed detection of diabetic complications. The outlook of clinical research appears promising in the near future owing to the development and implementation of advanced methods for the detection of early alterations in the micro- and macrovascular complications associated with diabetes. Two papers in this Special Issue cover the use of specific biomarkers tracing the progress of diabetic cardiovascular complications [ 6 , 7 ]. In another contribution, Lee et al. revisit the long-term glycemic variability and its relationship with end-stage kidney disease [ 8 ].

Besides the genetic approach, the application of digital techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, and novel biomarkers could be crucial for individualized type 2 diabetes management, which is the backbone of precision medicine.

Two review papers address the complications that are non-traditionally linked to type 2 diabetes, although currently under exhaustive research: bone health and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [ 9 , 10 ]. The multifaceted nature of type 2 diabetes is clearly visualized owing to the holistic angle used by these approaches.

The efficacy and safety of new type 2 diabetes pharmacological treatment are covered by three original papers [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. The Yu-Chuan Kang et al. study includes a large population sample and an extended follow-up to evaluate the association between dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and diabetic retinopathy [ 13 ]. This could be the first signal for a new safety risk of a pharmacological class of drugs used by millions worldwide.

The COVID-19 pandemic was first reported in China in December 2019 and continues to be a devastating condition for global health and economy. The COVID-19 disease has immediate implications for common chronic metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes. Both direct infection and the associated distress due to preventive measures in the general population have worsened the control of type 2 diabetes. Some factors indicate that COVID-19 or other coronavirus-caused diseases can be seasonal or persistent in the future. Type 2 diabetes has a strong negative effect on the prognosis of patients with COVID-19. Three papers in this Special Issue review the implications of this disease in relation to diabetes [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].

Finally, the aim of researchers in this field should be to make all these remarkable advances accessible to those populations experiencing more difficulties due to sociodemographic factors such as cultural deprivation, sex discrimination, or limited income [ 17 , 18 , 19 ].

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the continuous editorial assistance of Nicole Quinn, Always English S.L.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, writing—original draft preparation, writing—review and editing were equally done by F.G.-P. and C.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Metformin intolerance in type 2 diabetes mellitus – the possibility of using a multi-strain probiotic, estimated glomerular filtration rate in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, xxv scientific congress of diabetes poland, 23–25 may 2024, warsaw - abstracts.