Objective: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a long-term complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Genetic studies on DN have been of little help so far, since several genetic association studies have shown conflicting results. Here we report the findings of a case-control study on five SNPs in the glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) gene. The study investigated the association of five GLUT1 genotypes and haplotypes with DN.
Research design and methods: All subjects, 126 DN (cases) and 273 type 2 diabetes (controls), were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: The TT and the AA genotypes of the Haell and Enh2 SNP1, increased the risk of DN. The study also identified CGT as the highest risk haplotype (4.4-fold) followed by CAT with an increased risk of DN of 2.6-fold.
Conclusions: The GLUT1 gene confers susceptibility to DN in type 2 diabetes patients in the Tunisian population.