Grant: Team Grant: Diabetes Mechanisms and Translational Solutions - General Pool

Colchicine is an anti-inflammatory medication and is one of the oldest remedies still commonly in use today as a treatment for gout. Recently, we have led the COLCOT study, showing that colchicine reduced the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with a recent heart attack. Subsequently, in a precision medicine study of the COLCOT data, we found genetic biomarkers that help identify patients who can benefit more from colchicine. Our team will soon launch a new study, COLCOT-T2D, to determine if colchicine will reduce major cardiovascular events in 10,000 patients with type 2 diabetes. The present Team Grant application proposes a precision medicine study using data collected from 2000 participants to the COLCOT-T2D study. Blood samples will be collected by patients themselves, by using a special self-collection device, and we will use proteomics to measure the levels of over 3000 circulating proteins. We will also measure the concentration of colchicine and of other commonly used diabetes medications used by study participants. By combining these data with the genomic data and the detailed information collected during the clinical study, the research team will study the biological pathways underlying differences in treatment benefits between diabetes patients. The study will also allow for the validation of the previous findings made in COLCOT to determine whether some patients may benefit more from colchicine. We will also study the role of sex and gender on diabetes and drug response and on study participation. Precision medicine has the potential to identify who benefits more from diabetes medications. Such risk stratification is important as there are increasing treatment options for patients with diabetes. Our Team Grant will provide valuable evidence toward better prevention strategies and treatment options for women and men living with diabetes.