ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate whether the angiotensin II type I receptor gene (AGTR1) A1166C polymorphism is associated with a high risk of diabetic nephropathy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The allele frequency and the genotype distribution of the AGTR1 A1166C polymorphism were studied in normal controls (157 cases), simple diabetes (141 cases, duration of diabetes >10 years), and diabetic nephropathy (152 cases) by means of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients with diabetic nephropathy had a higher frequency of C allele of the AGTR1 A1166C polymorphism than that of normal controls and simple diabetes (P<0.05); but there was no significant difference in frequency of C allele between the normal controls and patients with simple diabetes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The diabetic patients with AGTR1 C allele may be more susceptible to diabetic nephropathy than diabetic patients with A allele.</p>
