KCNJ11 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: More recently, the associations of the Glu23Lys variant and a different KCNJ11 variant, Ile1337Val (rs5215), with T2DM have been confirmed in several genome-wide association studies (GWAS), rekindling the interest in its potential role as a genetic marker for T2DM development (Cheung et al., 2011).