Abstract:
Background and Aim: Apelin, the newly identified adipokine and
the endogenous ligand for the APJ receptor is related to obesity
and insulin resistance. The aim of the study was to investigate
the association of 2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
the apelin gene (APLN) with susceptibility to Type Two Diabetes
Mellitus (T2DM) in the Egyptian population.
Methods: Two SNPs on APLN were genotyped in 145 diabetic
patients and 135 nondiabetic individuals, aged 40-60 years. Realtime polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze
the 2 SNPs in both the diabetic and the healthy subjects. The
association of the 2 SNPs (rs2281068 and rs3115759) in APLN
and T2DM risk was investigated. Allele and genotype frequencies
between patients and control groups were compared using the Chisquare (χ2
) test.
Results: In the apelin gene; GT/TT genotype of apelin risk
genotypes of the rs2281068 variants was found to be significantly
related with the risk of T2DM with the power (OR : 9.623, CI : 35.52 -
16.77) (P ≤ 0.001). while on the contrary, the GA/AA genotype of the
rs3115759 variants was not at increased risk for T2DM (OR :1.25,
CI : 0.785-2.09) (P=0.3408).
Conclusions: Both association and functional studies suggested
that SNP rs2281068 in APLN is associated with the risk of T2DM in
the Egyptian population.