Type 2 diabetes in Arab patients in Kuwait.

We describe the characteristics of 75 Arab Type 2 diabetic patients in Kuwait. Their age (+/- SD) at onset was 41 +/- 10 years, and fasting serum C-peptide concentration was 0.32 +/- 0.23 nmol/l (n = 51). Fifty-three percent (37/70) possessed HLA-DR3 or -DR4 epitopes, and 64% (47/73) had a family history of diabetes. Data review suggested that they could be segregated into two groups, those under 40 years old at onset (32 +/- 6 years, n = 37), and the remainder (48 +/- 6 years, n = 38) (p less than 0.001). Those in the former group had a significantly higher frequency of a family history of diabetes than those in the latter group (92% vs 38%, p less than 0.001) suggestive of a greater genetic influence on the development of Type 2 diabetes in those with early onset disease.