Medical University of Graz identifies 2‑Hydroxybutyrate as early diabetes biomarker

Researchers at the Medical University of Graz evaluated the metabolite 2‑hydroxybutyrate (2‑HB) in more than 700 participants of the BioPersMed long‑term study. They found that 2‑HB concentrations increase with worsening glucose metabolism and can distinguish normal metabolism, pre‑diabetes and type‑2 diabetes even when fasting glucose and HbA1c levels remain within the normal range.

The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, suggests that measuring 2‑HB with standard clinical laboratory equipment could complement existing screening methods, which miss up to 40 % of early metabolic disturbances. Early identification of individuals at high risk may allow preventive interventions before complications such as cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, neuropathy or vision loss develop.