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World J Diabetes. Dec 15, 2021; 12(12): 2027-2035
Published online Dec 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i12.2027
Omics era in type 2 diabetes: From childhood to adulthood
Antonio Paride Passaro, Pierluigi Marzuillo, Stefano Guarino, Federica Scaglione, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Anna Di Sessa
Antonio Paride Passaro, Pierluigi Marzuillo, Stefano Guarino, Federica Scaglione, Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice, Anna Di Sessa, Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Napoli 80138, Italy
Author contributions: Passaro AP wrote the manuscript; Miraglia del Giudice E, Di Sessa A, Passaro AP and Marzuillo P conceived the manuscript; Di Sessa A, Miraglia del Giudice E and Marzuillo P supervised the manuscript drafting; Guarino S and Scaglione F reviewed the literature data; Marzuillo P prepared the tables; each author contributed important intellectual content during manuscript drafting or revision.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Anna Di Sessa, MD, PhD, Research Fellow, Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, Napoli 80138, Italy. anna.disessa@libero.it
Received: February 28, 2021
Peer-review started: February 28, 2021
First decision: March 30, 2021
Revised: April 1, 2021
Accepted: November 2, 2021
Article in press: November 2, 2021
Published online: December 15, 2021
Abstract

Parallel to the dramatic rise of pediatric obesity, estimates reported an increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) already in childhood. The close relationship between obesity and T2D in children is mainly sustained by insulin resistance (IR). In addition, the cardiometabolic burden of T2D including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome is also strictly related to IR. Although T2D pathophysiology has been largely studied in an attempt to improve therapeutic options, molecular mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. In this perspective, omics approaches (including lipidomics, metabolomics, proteomics and metagenomics) are providing the most attractive therapeutic options for T2D. In particular, distinct both lipids and metabolites are emerging as potential therapeutic tools. Of note, among lipid classes, the pathogenic role of ceramides in T2D context has been supported by several data. Thus, selective changes of ceramides expression might represent innovative therapeutic strategies for T2D treatment. More, distinct metabolomics pathways have been also found to be associated with higher T2D risk, by providing novel potential T2D biomarkers. Taken together, omics data are responsible for the expanding knowledge of T2D pathophysiology, by providing novel insights to improve therapeutic strategies for this tangled disease. We aimed to summarize the most recent evidence in the intriguing field of the omics approaches in T2D both in adults and children.

Keywords: Omics, Diabetes, Children, Adults, Type 2 diabetes

Core Tip: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents an emerging health concern worldwide. Its cardiometabolic burden affects both adults and children. Given the alarming rise of pediatric obesity, a high prevalence of T2D has been reported already in childhood. Although lifestyle modifications and metformin represent the first-line therapy for T2D, several drugs are available and others are being studied. In this view, an attractive therapeutic tool derives from omics studies. Based on T2D pathophysiology, these analyses highlighted the role of different lipids and metabolites closely intertwined with insulin signaling pathways as potential biomarkers for T2D, by paving the way for novel treatment strategies.