Association of Apelin Genetic Variants with Type Two Diabetes Mellitus in Egyptian Population

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.