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Diabetes

Trialing precision medicine for type 2 diabetes

Nature Medicine volume 29, pages 309–310 (2023)Cite this article

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A study prospectively evaluating a stratified approach to selecting treatment heralds a new era of precision medicine for type 2 diabetes, which should incorporate ongoing discovery, social determinants of health and healthcare transformation.

Dissecting the heterogeneity of the type 2 diabetes (T2D) phenotype and combining this with precision medicine approaches is now recognized as the holy grail for truly improving diabetes care1. Major clinical recommendations emphasize that management must incorporate the individual characteristics of the person living with T2D — including, but not limited to, personal preferences, comorbid conditions and social context2. However, current algorithms for individualized medication selection are based predominantly on a few comorbid conditions only. Fortunately, evidence is accumulating on how to parse subgroups and individual characteristics relevant to prognosis and treatment selection, but examples of rigorous testing of individualized approaches to T2D management are lacking.

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Fig. 1: Solving the puzzle of precision medicine for type 2 diabetes.

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Acknowledgements

S.J.P. was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK128572). N.M.M. was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK126825).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Scott J. Pilla & Nisa M. Maruthur

  2. Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Scott J. Pilla & Nisa M. Maruthur

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Scott J. Pilla

  4. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Nestoras N. Mathioudakis

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Nisa M. Maruthur

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  1. Scott J. Pilla
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  3. Nisa M. Maruthur
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Correspondence to Nisa M. Maruthur.

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Pilla, S.J., Mathioudakis, N.N. & Maruthur, N.M. Trialing precision medicine for type 2 diabetes. Nat Med 29, 309–310 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02168-5

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