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

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.