Affiliations: Medical Biology Research Center, Kermanshah University
of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran | Department of Biochemistry, Medical School, Kermanshah
University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran | Department of Biochemistry, Fars Science and Research
Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran
Note: [] Corresponding author: Zohreh Rahimi, Biochemistry, Medical
Biology Research Center, Medical School, Daneshgah Avenue, Kermanshah, P.O.
Box: 67148-69914, Iran. Tel.: +98 831 427 4882; Fax: +98 831 427 6471; E-mail:
zrahimi@kums.ac.ir
Abstract: To investigate the possible association between eNOS 4a/b
polymorphism and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and
diabetic nephropathy (DN) 173 T2DM patients with and without DN and 101 healthy
subjects with ethnic background of Kurds were examined for the frequency of
eNOS variants using PCR-RFLP method. The frequency of eNOS 4a/b genotypes
between T2DM and controls was not significantly difference. Studying eNOS 4a/b
variants alone indicated that the presence of eNOS 4a allele was not associated
with the risk of developing DN. However, considering both polymorphisms of eNOS
4a/b and G894T indicated that the risk of macroalbuminuria significantly
increased in the presence of either eNOS 4a or 894T allele by 2.45 times
(p=0.014) and 3.7-fold (p=0.016), respectively. However, the concomitant
presence of both alleles was not associated with the risk of macroalbuminuria.
In microalbuminuric patients, in the presence of each allele, the risk of
microalbuminuria increased 2.2 times (p=0.028) and 2.72-fold (p=0.057) for eNOS
4a and 894T alleles, respectively. However, the combined presence of both eNOS
894T and 4a alleles was not associated with the risk of microalbuminuria. The
present study indicates the absence of association between eNOS 4a/b variants
and the risk of developing T2DM and DN. Also, we demonstrated that eNOS 4a or
894T allele alone increased the risk of developing DN but this effect was
modified by the concomitant presence of both alleles.
Keywords: T2DM, eNOS variants, diabetic nephropathy, Western Iran
