A Pilot Study on the Prevalence of Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Gene (TCFL2), Rs290487 in Ethnic Groups with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Bayelsa State of Nigeria

The negative impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on individuals, families, health system and the economic development as a whole, is an important justification for research in this field. The present study is a hospital-based case-control type to ascertain the genetic susceptibility of T2DM among a sample population of various ethnic groups resident in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Also evaluated was the relationship between transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCFL2) rs12255372 and rs290487 genetic polymorphisms with development of T2DM. Genotyping of TCFL2 rs12255372 and rs290487 were carried out using the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Among the indigenous groups, the allelic frequencies determined for the abnormal (CC) and the normal (TT) genotypes were 94.4 and 5.6 (%), respectively; whereas, the values 91.7 and 8.3 (%), in that other, were determined for the non-indigenous groups. A convincing significant difference was found between subjects with T2DMne and their counterpart controls within indigenous people of Bayelsa State with respect to confounders, including age (t=8.046, p<0.00001), BMI (t =2.628, p<0.0190), waist circumference (t=2.800, p=0.0091) and fasting blood sugar (t=3.212, p< 0.0006). This study verified the association of TCFL2 rs290487 with the development of T2DM in indigenous and non-indigenous people in Bayelsa State. The risk conferred by the homozygous CC genotype was higher than that of the heterozygous TC state – a fact indicative of an additive model of inheritance.