Oluf Pedersen

Cohort Profile: The Health2006 cohort, Research Centre for Prevention and Health

Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Copenhagen University Hospital Glostrup, The Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark, National Allergy Research Centre, Department of Dermato-Allergology, Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, Denmark, Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities, Gentofte University Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, Hagedorn Research Institute and Steno Diabetes Centre, Gentofte, Denmark, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

Interleukin-6 autoantibodies are involved in the pathogenesis of a subset of Type 2 diabetes

Interleukin-6 (IL6) is critically involved in inflammation and metabolism. About 1% of people produce IL6 autoantibodies (aAb-IL6) that impair IL6 signaling in vivo. We tested the hypothesis that the prevalence of such aAb-IL6 is increased in type 2 diabetic patients and that aAb-IL6 plays a direct role in causing hyperglycemia. In humans, the prevalence of circulating high-affinity neutralizing aAb-IL6 was 2.5% in the type 2 diabetic patients and 1% in the controls (odds ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.2-4.9, P=0.01). To test for the role of aAb-IL6 in causing hyperglycemia, such aAb-IL6 were induced in mice by a validated vaccination procedure. Mice with plasma levels of aAb-IL6 similar to the 2.5% type 2 diabetic patients developed obesity and impaired glucose tolerance (area under the curve (AUC) glucose, 2056+/-62 vs 1793+/-62, P=0.05) as compared with sham-vaccinated mice, when challenged with a high-fat diet. Mice with very high plasma levels of aAb-IL6 developed elevated fasting plasma glucose (mM, 4.8+/-0.4 vs 3.3+/-0.1, P<0.001) and impaired glucose tolerance (AUC glucose, 1340+/-38 vs 916+/-25, P<0.001) as compared with sham-control mice on normal chow. In conclusion, the prevalence of plasma aAb-IL6 at levels known to impair IL6 signaling in vivo is increased 2.5-fold in people with type 2 diabetes. In mice, matching levels of aAb-IL6 cause obesity and hyperglycemia. These data suggest that a small subset of type 2 diabetes may in part evolve from an autoimmune attack against IL6.

ExomeChip-Wide Analysis of 95 626 Individuals Identifies 10 Novel Loci Associated With QT and JT Intervals

Background: QT interval, measured through a standard ECG, captures the time it takes for the cardiac ventricles to depolarize and repolarize. JT interval is the component of the QT interval that reflects ventricular repolarization alone. Prolonged QT interval has been linked to higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Methods and Results: We performed an ExomeChip-wide analysis for both QT and JT intervals, including 209 449 variants, both common and rare, in 17 341 genes from the Illumina Infinium HumanExome BeadChip. We identified 10 loci that modulate QT and JT interval duration that have not been previously reported in the literature using single-variant statistical models in a meta-analysis of 95 626 individuals from 23 cohorts (comprised 83 884 European ancestry individuals, 9610 blacks, 1382 Hispanics, and 750 Asians). This brings the total number of ventricular repolarization associated loci to 45. In addition, our approach of using coding variants has highlighted the role of 17 specific genes for involvement in ventricular repolarization, 7 of which are in novel loci. Conclusions: Our analyses show a role for myocyte internal structure and interconnections in modulating QT interval duration, adding to previous known roles of potassium, sodium, and calcium ion regulation, as well as autonomic control. We anticipate that these discoveries will open new paths to the goal of making novel remedies for the prevention of lethal ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest.