Leptin receptor gene polymorphism in type 2 diabetes and its effect on plasma lipid levels

    LU Hongª²Yun, SHU Xiaoª²Chun, XUE Qing, ZHANG Yanª²Xia, YE Liª²Hong, SHEN Jing, XIE Danª²Hong

    Department of Endocrinology, Fifth Hospital, SUN Yatª²sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate leptin receptor gene polymorphism in type 2 diabetes and its effect on plasma lipid levels, and to verify the feasibility of a new detective method for diabetic molecular biological research. METHODS: Genomic DNA was extracted from oral epithelial cells and lymphocytes. Hemiª²nested PCRª²RFLP and PCRª²direct sequence analysis were conducted to detect the polymorphisms of leptin receptor gene exon 20 in 106 cases of type 2 diabetes and 102 cases of normal glucose tolerances. The plasma lipid levels were measured routinely. RESULTS: The coherent of PCR products from oral epithelial cells and lymphocyte DNA was 100%. The variant frequencies at nucleotide 2927 C¡úA transversion and at 3057 G¡úA transversion were 100% and 75%, respectively. The variant frequencies at nucleotide 3057 were higher in diabetes cases compared with those in control (P<0.05). In type 2 diabetic group, AA genotype at nucleotide 3057 had higher levels of triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) (P<0.05), and lower levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The polymorphism of LEPR gene 3057 probably contributes to the onset of type 2 diabetes by regulating lipid metabolism and affecting the distribution of local body mass. ......