The Diabetes (InterAct) Working Group

In the EPIC study, diabetes is both an important exposure and an outcome of interest in itself. The Working Group has divided its attention between analyses involving the cases with prevalent diabetes at baseline and the investigation of the association of baseline factors with incident diabetes.

The incident cases were ascertained and verified in the European Union Sixth Framework Programme funded project InterAct, which involved 8 of the 10 countries in EPIC (see http://www.inter-act.eu/). The analyses are undertaken as a case—cohort study including 12 403 cases and a centre-stratified random subcohort of 16 154 individuals. In addition to analysing the association of lifestyle factors and incident diabetes, EPIC-InterAct has completed core biochemical measures, including phospholipid fatty acids, and has genome-wide genotype information on all individuals. Genome-wide methylation data, telomere length, and assays of vitamins D and C and carotenoids are under way. Metabolomic analyses are planned. The InterAct random subcohort is acting as the comparison group for other EPIC studies, including EPIC-Heart, EPIC-CVD, and Parkinson’s disease. Proposals for analyses using the data assembled in InterAct can be submitted via the website.

Selected publications

  1. Langenberg C, Sharp S, Forouhi NG et al. Design and cohort description of the InterAct Project: an examination of the interaction of genetic and lifestyle factors on the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the EPIC Study. Diabetologia 2011 Sep;54(9):2272-82. PMID: 21717116
  2. Langenberg C, Sharp SJ, Schulze MB et al. Long-term risk of incident type 2 diabetes and measures of overall and regional obesity: the EPIC-InterAct case-cohort study. PLoS Med 2012;9(6):e1001230. PMID: 22679397
  3. Ekelund U, Palla L, Brage S et al. Physical activity reduces the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in general and in abdominally lean and obese men and women: the EPIC–InterAct Study. Diabetologia 2012 Jul;55(7):1944-52.PMID: 22526603
  4. Grote VA, Rohrmann S, Nieters A et al. Diabetes mellitus, glycated haemoglobin and C-peptide levels in relation to pancreatic cancer risk: a study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Diabetologia. 2011 Dec;54(12):3037-46. PMID: 21953276
  5. Sluik D, Boeing H, Bergmann MM et al. Alcohol consumption and mortality in individuals with diabetes mellitus. Br J Nutr. 2012 Oct;108(7):1307-15. PMID: 22172339

Contact details/Working Group leader

Professor Nick Wareham, MB PhD
Director, MRC Epidemiology Unit
Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge
Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom
nick.wareham@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk