Insulin receptor substrate-1 gene polymorphism and cardiovascular risk in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and patients undergoing coronary angiography.

Clustering of risk factors for cardiovascular disease related to insulin resistance may account for the increased incidence of vascular disease in these conditions and in non-diabetic subjects. To investigate the relationship between a coding polymorphism in the insulin receptor substrate-1 gene and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, 209 patients with NIDDM and 452 subjects investigated for coronary artery disease (CAD) were studied. In the NIDDM subjects 22 (10.5%) were heterozygous at codon 972 for a polymorphism which codes for a glycine to arginine substitution and 187 (89.5%) were homozygous for the wild type. Patients with the mutation had lower levels of cholesterol compared with wild type (mean, 95% confidence intervals), 5.3 (4.9–5.8) vs 6.0 (5.9–6.2) mmol/l, respectively (P = 0.002), triglyceride 1.7 (1.4–2.1) vs 2.2 (2.0–2.4) mmol/l (P = 0.051), factor VII:C activity 109.5 (85.5–133.5) vs 133.5 (127–140)% (P = 0.057) and PAI-1 antigen, 16.0 (10.5–24.3) vs 22.2 (20.0–24.6) ng/ml (P = 0.054). There were no differences in body mass index, indices of glycaemic control, fasting insulin or the prevalence of hypertension. In patients with CAD, 55 (12.7%) were carriers of the mutation (including three homozygotes) (NIDDM vs CAD, NS). Although similar trends in cholesterol, factor VII, PAI-1 antigen and triglyceride existed between carriers of the mutation and the wild type, none reached statistical significance. The results indicate that the IRS-1 gene is not implicated in the pathogenesis of NIDDM or CAD.