Simple Blood Sample Could Identify Epigenetic Biomarkers to Predict CVD Risk in Type 2 Diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes face up to four times higher risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes, and angina compared to individuals without the condition. Yet, current tools used in healthcare to estimate cardiovascular risk rely on clinical variables that can be imprecise. Now, a new study has identified blood-based biomarkers that significantly improve the prediction of future cardiovascular disease in this population.

A research team led by Lund University (Lund, Sweden) conducted the study, which focused on DNA methylation as a way to detect epigenetic biomarkers in blood. Researchers tracked 752 newly diagnosed individuals from the diabetes cohort ANDIS (All New Diabetics in Skåne) who had no prior cardiovascular disease. Over 7 years, the researchers followed participants' cardiovascular health and studied chemical changes in their genomes.

The team discovered over 400 sites in the blood where DNA methylation was altered. Of these, 87 sites were used to create a scoring system that assesses individual risk for cardiovascular complications. The test showed a strong negative predictive value, with 96% accuracy in identifying those unlikely to develop heart disease.

These findings, published in Cell Reports Medicine, could transform how clinicians identify at-risk patients. Individuals flagged as high risk could receive earlier support in areas such as diet, exercise, weight control, blood sugar management, and cardiovascular protection. The researchers now aim to develop a clinical kit that allows DNA methylation to be measured through a simple blood sample.

"Healthcare today uses clinical variables such as age, gender, blood pressure, smoking, harmful cholesterol, long-term blood sugar, and kidney function to estimate the risk of future cardiovascular disease, but it is a rather blunt tool. If you add DNA methylation, you have a much better measure of future risk," said Charlotte Ling, senior author of the study. “We therefore want to develop a kit for clinical use, so that a simple blood sample can measure DNA methylation and predict who is at risk of becoming ill using the scoring scale.”

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