IIT Bombay researchers study hidden blood markers to spot diabetes risk
India’s biggest diabetes challenge—over 100 million adults already living with the disease and another 136 million at risk—just got a new tool for spotting danger before symptoms appear.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay are using a cutting‑edge technique called metabolomics to look for subtle changes in tiny molecules circulating in the blood. Metabolomics can reveal hidden shifts in the body’s chemistry long before a person shows obvious signs of diabetes.
“We’re not just measuring sugar,” says Sneha Rana, a doctoral student at IIT Bombay. “We’re scanning for changes in amino acids, fats and other pathways that standard tests miss.”
The team collected whole‑blood samples from 52 volunteers at Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad between June 2021 and July 2022. Participants included 15 healthy people, 23 people with type 2 diabetes, and 14 people suffering from diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Using liquid chromatography‑mass spectrometry and gas chromatography‑mass spectrometry, the researchers looked at nearly 300 different metabolites.
They found 26 metabolites that differed between healthy people and those with type 2 diabetes. While changes in glucose, cholesterol and a marker called 1,5‑anhydroglucitol are expected, the study also highlighted new players—valerobetaine, ribothymidine and fructosyl‑pyroglutamate—that had never before been linked to diabetes.
“This shows diabetes is a much wider metabolic disorder, not just high blood sugar,” notes Prof. Pramod Wangikar from IIT Bombay.
The researchers also identified seven metabolites that steadily rose from healthy people to those with diabetic kidney disease. These include sugar alcohols such as arabitol and myo‑inositol, and a toxin‑like compound called 2PY, which builds up when kidneys are injured.
By mapping these blood markers, doctors could predict who is most likely to develop diabetes and who is at risk of serious complications like kidney disease—long before current tests can flag the problem. The study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, suggests a future where blood tests give a more complete picture of metabolic health and enable personalized treatment plans for India’s growing diabetes population.
Source: ianslive
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