India sets up its first diabetes biobank

A person receives blood sugar test. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Aimed at facilitating advanced research on diabetes, the variations of the Indian type and other related disorders, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) has set up the country’s first diabetes biobank.

This repository of population-based biological samples established in Chennai will gather, process, store and distribute biospecimens to assist scientific studies.

Chairman of MDRF V. Mohan said the process of setting up the biobank started around some years ago. “A plethora of blood samples of different types of diabetes in the young, such as Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes, have been stored for future studies and research,’’ said Dr. Mohan.

The details of the biobank and the purpose behind setting it up was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research recently.

Biobanks are critical in biomedical research, collecting, processing, storing and distributing biospecimens to support scientific research. “Diabetes biobank could help in the identification of novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and the development of personalised treatment strategies. It will also support longitudinal studies to track the progression of diabetes and its complications over time, leading to better management and prevention strategies,” notes the article.

A government study, which is one of the large epidemiological studies on diabetes with sample size of 1.2 lakh nationally-representative individuals, covering every state of India indicated a rise in diabetes among the general population.

This cross-sectional, community-based study was done in adults in phases from 2008 to 2020 and sampled 33,537 urban and 79,506 rural residents in 31 states and Union Territories.

The study reported a growing prevalence of diabetes and metabolic non-communicable diseases in India.

“The biobank also houses blood samples from the ICMR Young Diabetes Registry which has different types of diabetes like Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes in the young and gestational diabetes in all of which Indians have unique clinical features. Hence, these are also fertile fields for research,” added Dr. Mohan.