一个国际研究小组称他们已经确定了一个基因突变，这个基因突变可以将健康人的血糖升至一个危险程度，并使心脏病发病的危险性增加。
　　研究人员在星期四的《科学》杂志上撰文指出，这个突变的基因可以使健康人患糖尿病的几率增加5%。

　　血液中葡萄糖浓度过高可以对眼、肾脏和神经造成损害，还可以导致心脏疾病、中风甚至截肢。

    尽管血糖增高是糖尿病的一个症状，但是在这个基因和糖尿病之间现在还没有发现有直接联系。

　　“我们的研究可以有助于在基因层面上分析一些人的血糖要比其他人高的原因，”领导这项研究的法国国家研究所研究员Philippe Froguel说。

　　“我们希望最后可以发现一种新的可以预防血糖水平过高的方法。”

　　研究发现，血糖水平过高和一个叫做G6PC2或 IGRP的基因之间存在联系，如果这些基因发生突变，它们就会阻断葡糖糖激酶的调节血糖作用，并导致血糖上升。

　　研究人员介绍说，血糖激酶是通过向β细胞发送胰岛素分泌信号来进行血糖调节的。

　　在他们的研究中，Froguel和他的同事们对654个健康人的基因结构进行了比较。这些人血糖的最低值和最高值均位于正常范围之内。

　　之后他们又分析了392，000个以上的基因突变以确定哪一个可以导致高血糖。在进一步分析了大约8，000个血糖正常的人的基因之后，结果证明他们的结论是正确的。

　　在一个声明中，Froguel说；“就像胆固醇或血压一样，血糖越高，患其他危险性疾病的几率也就越高。”
　　去年，这个研究小组曾发现有5个区域的DNA是导致70%的2型糖尿病发生的主要基因因素。

Researchers Find Gene Defect That Boosts Glucose

An international research team has pinpointed a genetic mutation that can raise a healthy person's blood sugar to harmful levels, putting them at higher risk of serious problems like heart disease.

The defect could cause an increase of around 5 percent that can prove dangerous even for people without diabetes, the researchers reported in the journal Science said on Thursday.

Too much glucose in the blood can damage the eyes, kidneys and nerves, and also lead to heart disease, stroke and limb amputations. It is also a sign of diabetes, though the findings did not link the gene directly to the disease.

"Our study helps unravel the genetic reasons why some people have higher levels of glucose in their blood than others," said Philippe Froguel, a researcher at the French National Research Institute and Imperial College London, who led the study.

"We hope that ultimately our research will mean we can develop new treatments to stop people from developing high blood glucose levels."

The research associating high glucose levels to the gene known as G6PC2, or IGRP, showed that the mutated version blocks a protein called glucokinase from doing its job of tightly regulating glucose, causing blood sugar to rise.

Glucokinase works by signalling to cells known as beta cells which then secrete insulin to keep blood glucose levels under control, the researchers said.

In their study, Froguel and colleagues compared the genetic makeup of 654 non-diabetics with glucose levels that ranged from the low to the high end of what is considered normal.

Next they scanned more than 392,000 mutations to find ones specific to high blood glucose levels. They confirmed their findings by analysing the genes of a further 8,000 people with normal blood sugar levels.

"Having a high level of blood glucose is a bit like having high cholesterol or high blood pressure in that the higher the level, the greater your risk of serious health problems," Froguel said in a statement.

The findings come from the same team which last year identified five areas of DNA that could account for 70 percent of the genetic risk for type 2 diabetes.