Metabolism Open (Jun 2023)

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 polymorphism is an important gene for insulin resistance in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes

  • Tsuyoshi Okura,
  • Risa Nakamura,
  • Mari Anno,
  • Yuichi Ito,
  • Sonoko Kitao,
  • Satomi Endo,
  • Natsuka Taneda,
  • Kazuhisa Matsumoto,
  • Kyoko Shoji,
  • Hiroko Okura,
  • Kazuhiko Matsuzawa,
  • Shoichiro Izawa,
  • Etsuko Ueta,
  • Masahiko Kato,
  • Takeshi Imamura,
  • Shin-ichi Taniguchi,
  • Kazuhiro Yamamoto

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18
p. 100242

Abstract

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Background: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is an important enzyme involved in alcohol metabolism. ALDH2 polymorphism has been reported as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is associated with liver insulin resistance due to alcohol consumption in non-diabetic individuals. Herein, we investigated the association between ALDH2 polymorphisms and insulin resistance in patients with T2DM. Methods: We performed a meal tolerance test and the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp on 71 Japanese participants: 34 patients with T2DM, and 37 non-diabetic participants. We analyzed the ALDH2 polymorphism (ALDH2 rs67); GG type was defined as the T2DM high-risk group, compared with the low-risk AG and AA groups. Results: Glucose levels were similar in the high- and low-risk T2DM groups. The high-risk group for T2DM showed a significantly higher BMI (p < 0.005), insulin resistance in HOMA-IR (p < 0.05), and Insulin sensitivity index (p < 0.05); however, there were no significant differences in insulin resistance in the clamp test (p = 0.10). Alcohol consumption did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.66). Non-diabetic participants also showed higher HOMA-IR insulin resistance in the high-risk group (p < 0.05), but insulin resistance levels in the glucose clamp tests (p = 0.56) and insulin secretion were not significant. Conclusion: The results suggest that ALDH2 is an important gene associated with insulin resistance and obesity in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

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