Association of ghrelin Leu72Met polymorphism with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese population

• Published in: Gene Vol. 504; no. 2; pp. 309 - 312
• Main Authors: Liu, Jing, Liu, Jia, Tian, Li-min, Liu, Ju-xiang, Bing, Ya-jun, Zhang, Ji-ping, Wang, Yun-fang, Zhang, Lu-yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 10.08.2012
• Subjects: Base Sequence; Case-Control Studies; China; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Creatinine; DHPLC; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - genetics; DNA Primers; Etiology; Fins; Gene frequency; Gene polymorphism; Ghrelin; Ghrelin - chemistry; Ghrelin - genetics; Growth hormone; High-performance liquid chromatography; Hospitals; Humans; Insulin; Leucine - chemistry; Leucine - genetics; Methionine - chemistry; Methionine - genetics; Nucleotide sequence; Obesity; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Genetic; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; China; T2DM; DHPLC; FINS; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; GSH-R; HOMA-IR; HDL; TG; Ghrelin; NPY; AGRP; FPG; OGTT; PCR; WHO; MC4-R; Polymorphism
• ISSN: 0378-1119; 1879-0038
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2012.03.025

Ghrelin, a novel endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is considered to implicate the development of the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The Leu72Met (+408C>A) polymorphism of the preproghrelin, has been linked to obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes. To investigate the distribution of ghrelin gene Leu72Met polymorphism and its association with the type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese population. We conducted a case–control study on 877 patients with T2DM and 864 controls, which were genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequence analysis. Laboratory analyses were carried out in the hospital laboratory. No significant difference in the Leu72Met genotype distributions and allele frequency was observed between type 2 diabetes mellitus and controls (both P>0.05). The polymorphism was not associated with T2DM. However, among the T2DM group, the patients carrying Leu72Leu genotype had significantly increased levels of FPG and serum creatinine compared with variant genotypes (Leu72Met and Met72Met) (P<0.05). In the control group, the subjects with variant genotypes had significantly increased levels of FINS, HOMA-IR compared with Leu72Leu genotype (P<0.05). The Leu72Met polymorphism of the preproghrelin gene was not associated with T2DM in Chinese population. However, it may have some roles in the etiology of insulin resistance. ► Ghrelin is firstly endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor. ► Ghrelin is considered to the targets of molecular biology on energy metabolism. ► Combining the DHPLC, PCR and gene sequencing has high accuracy and reliability. ► Leu72Met polymorphism is an important risk factor for glucose tolerance, obesity and T2DM.