Higher levels of circulating GDF-15 have been linked to an increased risk for several adverse outcomes, including a recent study showing an association with incident type 2 diabetes (27), deteriorating microalbuminuria (28), progression of albuminuria in persons with type 2 diabetes (28), kidney function decline and cardiovascular risk in persons with type 1 diabetes (29), early death in patients undergoing haemodialysis (30), as well as incident heart failure and cardiovascular events in the general population (31). This evidence concerns the gene GDF15 and type 1 diabetes mellitus.