Investigation of HTTLPR gene polymorphism fluctuation in type II diabetes

Abstract

Background

One of the most common public health problems is type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Several genes have been identified as remarkable risk factors for T2DM. However, it seems that the disease is caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Correspondingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between polymorphisms of HTTLPR with T2DM in Yazd city, Iran.

Methods

In this case-control study, blood samples of 150 patients with T2DM with or without complications were referred to the Central Laboratory in Yazd in order to determine the polymorphism of 5-HTTLPR, a serotonin transporter gene. The results were compared with 150 normal subjects without diabetes.

Results

The average age of patients and the control group were 55.91 ± 7.38 and 46.61 ± 9.15 years respectively. In the patient group the frequencies of genotypes LL, LS and SS were 34.7%, 40.7% and 24.7% respectively. Among the control group, the frequencies were 38.7%, 30%, and 31.3% respectively. There was no significant difference for the polymorphism genotype frequencies between the patients group and the control group (p = 0.140). Moreover, there was no significant relationship between genotype polymorphism of the 5-HTTPLR and complications of diabetes including retinopathy (p = 0.085), nephropathy (p = 0.566) and neuropathy (p = 0.039).

Conclusion

Based on the results of this study, there was no significant association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in a population with T2DM living in Yazd, Iran. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between age, sex and BMI of patients with frequency of allele polymorphism of 5-HTTLPR.