SUBCLINICAL CVD IN AFRICAN AMERICAN TYPE 2 DIABETICS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability in individuals with diabetes. African Americans are at particularly high risk for developing type 2 diabetes and diabetic complications, relative to European Americans. This study will measure the extent to which inherited factors (genes) contribute to the risk of developing CVD in African Americans with diabetes and evaluate the causes of ethnic differences in subclinical CVD. The risk for developing CVD in African Americans is thought to be mediated by both genes and lifestyle, but the size of the risk attributable to genes and their identity are unknown. This study will measure the size of that risk and search for genes that contribute to CVD in pairs of African American siblings with type 2 diabetes. Subclinical CVD will be evaluated using sophisticated, noninvasive, methods: ultrasound measurement of the thickness of carotid artery walls and measurement of calcium in coronary arteries using computed tomography (CT scans). Additional ancillary measures are obesity and bone density. This study will create a unique collection of African American diabetic families with associated information for the study of CVD. The identification of CVD risk genes would provide opportunities to develop new treatments to prevent or delay the onset of CVD in African American individuals with diabetes.