Munns Sarah, Brown Alex, Buckberry Sam
The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Front Mol Biosci. 2025 Apr 28;12:1502640. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1502640. eCollection 2025.
Type-2 diabetes is a systemic condition with rising global prevalence, disproportionately affecting Indigenous communities worldwide. Recent advances in epigenomics methods, particularly in DNA methylation detection, have enabled the discovery of associations between epigenetic changes and Type-2 diabetes. In this review, we summarise DNA methylation profiling methods, and discuss how these technologies can facilitate the discovery of epigenomic biomarkers for Type-2 diabetes. We critically evaluate previous DNA methylation biomarker studies, particularly those using microarray platforms, and advocate for a shift towards sequencing-based approaches to improve genome-wide coverage. Furthermore, we emphasise the need for biomarker studies that include genetically diverse populations, especially Indigenous communities who are significantly impacted by Type-2 diabetes. We discuss research approaches and ethical considerations that can better facilitate Type-2 diabetes biomarker development to ensure that future genomics-based precision medicine efforts deliver equitable health outcomes. We propose that by addressing these gaps, future research can better capture the genetic and environmental complexities of Type-2 diabetes among populations at disproportionate levels of risk, ultimately leading to more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
2型糖尿病是一种在全球患病率不断上升的全身性疾病，对世界各地的原住民社区影响尤为严重。表观基因组学方法，尤其是DNA甲基化检测方面的最新进展，使得人们能够发现表观遗传变化与2型糖尿病之间的关联。在这篇综述中，我们总结了DNA甲基化谱分析方法，并讨论了这些技术如何促进2型糖尿病表观基因组生物标志物的发现。我们批判性地评估了以往的DNA甲基化生物标志物研究，特别是那些使用微阵列平台的研究，并主张转向基于测序的方法以提高全基因组覆盖范围。此外，我们强调生物标志物研究需要纳入遗传背景多样的人群，特别是那些受2型糖尿病影响严重的原住民社区。我们讨论了能够更好地促进2型糖尿病生物标志物开发的研究方法和伦理考量，以确保未来基于基因组学的精准医学努力能够带来公平的健康结果。我们提出，通过填补这些空白，未来的研究能够更好地捕捉不同风险水平人群中2型糖尿病的遗传和环境复杂性，最终带来更有效的诊断和治疗策略。
