Putative role of polymorphisms in UCP1-3 genes for diabetic nephropathy.

Increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been suggested as a cause of diabetic complications. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) have been ascribed a role in reducing the formation of ROS, and genetic variation in genes encoding for UCPs could thus be putative candidate genes for diabetic nephropathy. To test this hypothesis we searched for association between the A-->G (-3862) variant in UCP1, the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in exon 8 in UCP2, and the C-->T (-55) polymorphism in UCP3 and diabetic nephropathy in 218 diabetic patients with normal urinary albumin excretion rate (AER), 216 with micro- or macroalbuminuria, and in 106 control subjects without a family history of diabetes. We did not find any association between the different polymorphisms and diabetic nephropathy, nor did we observe any difference in AER among carriers of different UCP1-3 genotypes. We could, however, confirm the reported association between BMI and the UCP3 -55 C-->T polymorphism; patients carrying the T allele had higher BMI than patients homozygous for the C allele (26.4+/-4.2 vs. 25.3+/-4.3 kg/m(2); P=.01). We conclude that studied polymorphisms in the UCP1-3 genes do not play a major role in the development of micro- or macroalbuminuria in Scandinavian diabetic patients.

FOXC2 mRNA Expression and a 5' untranslated region polymorphism of the gene are associated with insulin resistance.

The human transcription factor FOXC2 has recently been shown to protect against diet-induced insulin resistance in transgenic mice. We investigated the expression of FOXC2 in fat and muscle and performed a genetic analysis in human subjects. FOXC2 mRNA levels were increased in visceral compared with subcutaneous fat from obese subjects (12 +/- 4-fold; P = 0.0001), and there was a correlation between whole-body insulin sensitivity and FOXC2 mRNA levels in visceral fat (fS-insulin R = -0.64, P = 0.01, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR] R = -0.68, P = 0.007) and skeletal muscle (fS-insulin R = -0.57, P = 0.03, and HOMA-IR R = -0.55, P = 0.04). Mutation screening of the FOXC2 gene identified a common polymorphism in the 5' untranslated region (C-512T). The T allele was associated with enhanced insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR P = 0.007) and lower plasma triglyceride levels in females (P = 0.007). Also, the higher expression of FOXC2 in visceral than in subcutaneous fat was restricted to subjects homozygous for the T allele (P = 0.03 vs. P = 0.7). Our data suggest that increased FOXC2 expression may protect against insulin resistance in human subjects and that genetic variability in the gene may influence features associated with the metabolic syndrome.

Variants in the calpain-10 gene predispose to insulin resistance and elevated free fatty acid levels.

The calpain-10 gene (CAPN10) has been associated with type 2 diabetes, but information on molecular and physiological mechanisms explaining this association is limited. Here we addressed this question by studying the role of CAPN10 for phenotypes associated with type 2 diabetes and free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism. Among 395 type 2 diabetic patients and 298 nondiabetic control subjects from Finland, the SNP-43 allele 1 (P = 0.011), SNP-63 allele 2 (P = 0.010), and the haplotype combination SNP-44/43/19/63 1121/1121 (P = 0.028) were associated with type 2 diabetes. The SNP-43 genotypes 11 and 12 were associated with higher fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance index among control subjects (P = 0.021 and P = 0.0076) and with elevated FFA among both control subjects (P = 0.0040) and type 2 diabetic patients (P = 0.0025). Multiple regression analysis further indicated that SNP-43 is an independent predictor of FFA levels (P = 0.0037). Among 80 genotype discordant sibling pairs, the SNP-43 allele 1 was associated with elevated fasting serum insulin and HOMA index (P = 0.013 and P = 0.0068). None of the four SNPs showed distorted transmission of alleles to patients with type 2 diabetes in a qualitative transmission disequilibrium test, including 108 trios. Because FFA and insulin resistance are known to predict type 2 diabetes, the finding that variation in the CAPN10 gene influences FFA levels and insulin resistance may provide an explanation for how the CAPN10 gene increases susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.