Al-Azhar Assiut Medical Journal (Jan 2020)
The association between vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism (FokI), type 2 diabetes, and microvascular/macrovascular complications in postmenopausal women
Abstract
Background Vitamin D has a wide range of biological functions. The presence of vitamin D receptors (VDRs) in many tissues explains its diverse actions. The VDR gene is highly polymorphic, with many single nucleotide polymorphisms. The FokI polymorphism in the VDR gene is the only polymorphism that influences the size of the translated protein. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing problem worldwide, it results from a complex of inheritance and environment interactions. Vitamin D deficiency and VDR gene polymorphism FokI have been linked to T2DM and diabetic microvascular and macrovascular complications. Aim The aim of this study is to determine the association of VDR gene polymorphism FokI with T2DM and diabetic microvascular and macrovascular complications in postmenopausal women. Participants and methods This study was carried out on 200 postmenopausal Egyptian women (50 healthy controls, 50 patients with T2DM without microvascular or macrovascular complications, 50 T2DM patients with microvascular complications, and 50 T2DM patients with macrovascular complications). VDR FokI genotypes were determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) levels were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results The prevalence of the polymorphic genotypes ff and the f allele was statistically significantly increased in diabetic patients than in controls (P<0.001), and the odds ratio was 7.84 (95% confidence interval: 1.75–35.09). There was a statistically significant increase in the polymorphic genotypes ff and the f allele in T2DM with microvascular or macrovascular complications compared with the control group (P=0.05). Plasma vitamin D (25OHD) levels were significantly lower in diabetic patients than in the control participants (P=0.032). On comparing the studied groups in terms of the plasma vitamin D (25OHD) levels, there was a statistically significant decrease in the levels in patients with microvascular and macrovascular complications in comparison with the control group (P<0.001). Conclusion The ff genotype and the f allele of VDR polymorphism FokI may represent a significant genetic molecular marker to predict the risk of diabetes and diabetic microvascular and macrovascular complications in postmenopausal women.
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