| Title: | Linking the plasma proteome to genetics in individuals from continental Africa provides insights into type 2 diabetes pathogenesis |
| Journal: | Nature Genetics |
| Published: | 8 Jan 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41507467/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02421-w |
| URL: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02421-w.pdf |
Publication 18674
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Abstract
Individuals of African ancestry remain largely underrepresented in genetic and proteomic studies. Here we measure the levels of 2,873 proteins in plasma samples from 163 individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) or prediabetes and 362 normoglycemic controls from the Ugandan population. We identify 88 differentially expressed proteins between the two groups. We link genome-wide data to protein expression levels and construct a protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) map for this population. We identify 399 independent associations with 346 (86.7%) cis-pQTLs and 53 (13.3%) trans-pQTLs; 16.7% of the cis-pQTLs and all of the trans-pQTLs have not been previously reported in individuals of African ancestry. Of these, 37 pQTLs have not been previously reported in any population. We find evidence for colocalization between a pQTL and T2D genetic risk. Our findings reveal proteins causally implicated in the pathogenesis of T2D, which may be leveraged for personalized medicine tailored to individuals of African ancestry.</p>
16 Keywords
- Black People
- Blood Proteins
- Case-Control Studies
- Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
- Female
- Genetic Predisposition to Disease
- Genome-Wide Association Study
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
- Prediabetic State
- Proteome
- Proteomics
- Quantitative Trait Loci
- Uganda
9 Authors
- Opeyemi Soremekun
- Young-Chan Park
- Mauro Tutino
- Ana Luiza Arruda
- Allan Kalungi
- N. William Rayner
- Moffat Nyirenda
- Segun Fatumo
- Eleftheria Zeggini
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 10205 | Cardiometabolic trait genetics |
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