India has set up its first biobank for diabetes in Chennai. It is a collaboration of the government’s medical panel, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF).

This biobank, located at MDRF, aims to collect, store and distribute biological samples to support advanced scientific research on diabetes in India.

The biobank is an important step towards understanding the causes, variations and complexities of diabetes, especially in the Indian population. It will provide a platform for researchers to study different types of diabetes, including type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes, said Dr V Mohan, chairman of MDRF and Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Centre.

The repository currently houses blood samples obtained from two major studies funded by ICMR. The first is the ICMR-India Diabetes (ICMR-IndiaB) study, conducted across all Indian states and union territories between 2008 and 2020, involving more than 1.2 lakh participants. Both studies have been published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.

The second is a registry of people with diabetes in India, the Young Age at Onset study, launched in 2006, which focuses on cases of diabetes diagnosed at a young age.

The biobank contains a wide range of samples collected from young individuals with different types of diabetes. These samples are important for future research to identify biomarkers for early diagnosis and develop personalized treatment strategies.

The ICMR-INDIAB study found that diabetes and metabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are more prevalent in India than previously estimated. It recorded 10.1 crore diabetes cases and 13.6 crore prediabetes cases across the country.

A registry study of people with diabetes showed that among young-onset cases, type 1 diabetes was diagnosed at an average age of 12.9 years, while type 2 diabetes was identified around 21.7 years.

Worryingly, many cases of type 2 diabetes were reported late, with almost half of those already experiencing hospitalization.

The biobank is expected to promote collaborative research, track the progression of diabetes, and contribute to better prevention and management strategies.

This is a major step forward in India’s fight against the diabetes epidemic and can significantly increase global understanding of the disease.