The role of the PPARG (Pro12Ala) common genetic variant on type 2 diabetes mellitus risk

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) prevalence has been rapidly increasing in the last decades. T2DM pathogenesis is related to insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG) is concerned about T2DM risk through the involvement in adipocyte differentiation and energy homeostasis. The present study aimed to find the risk associated with a common genetic variant (Pro12Ala) of the PPARG gene in the development of T2DM in a group of the Iranian population. Totally, 149 patients with T2DM and 96 healthy individuals were recruited in this case–control study. The genotyping of the genetic variant was carried out using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by Sanger sequencing. No significant difference is observed between the CG and GG genotypes frequency of the PPARG variant (P = 0.17) in T2DM patient and the control groups. Furthermore, the frequency of the G allele was similar between case and control groups. The Pro12Ala variant may decrease the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) which was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the Pro12Ala variant caused a 27% increase in the risk of diabetes nephropathy (DN) among patients with T2DM but was not significant. Our findings showed that the PPARG variant could not impact on T2DM development and its complications.