Our results revealed that GDF15 plasma concentration is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, HR = 1.7, p-value = 9.2 × 10–12), type 2 diabetes (HR = 1.40, p-value = 0.02), and cardiovascular disease (HR = 1.4, p-value = 1.5 × 10–6, Figure 1, Figure 1—figure supplement 1 and Supplementary file 2e). Here, GDF15 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.