In both healthy individuals and those with type 2 diabetes, NPC1L1 was highly expressed in the small intestine, with mean levels rising from the duodenum (69 ± 6.8 RPKM (mean ± SEM)) to location 6 (120 ± 7.3 RPKM), followed by a steep drop in the distal part of the small intestine (ileocecal: 1 ± 0.73 RPKM), and absence in the large intestine (Figure 1A, Tables S1 and S2). This evidence concerns the gene NPC1L1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.