Abstract
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a significant and major microvascular complication of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with obesity being a major risk factor. Adiponectin is a major adipokine secreted by adipose tissue, encoded by the APM1/ADIPOQ gene. Genetic variation in the ADIPOQ gene has been linked to the development of T2DM and DN. The present study aims to investigate the influence of the rs2241766 and rs17300539 polymorphisms of the APN gene on the risk of DN. A total of 150 participants were grouped as Group I: Control (N = 50), Group II: T2DM (N = 50), and Group III: DN (N = 50). Blood glucose, renal profile, and lipid profile were analyzed and the genetic variants were analyzed using ARMS-PCR. The rs2241766 was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing T2DM in homozygous mutant [OR: 23.40 (2.43-224.64); 0.006], Dominant [3.27 (1.42-7.52); 0.005], recessive [10.75 (1.30-88.47); 0.027] and allelic [3.32 (1.68-6.58); 0.0006] model. Males demonstrated an increased risk but the increase was not statistically significant. The rs2241766 polymorphism was not associated with the development of DN in general and gender subtype. The rs17300539 was not associated with the development of T2DM or DN in the studied population. DN demonstrated significantly lower plasma APN levels and higher oxidative stress (as measured by NOX) compared to healthy controls. The rs2241766 variant enhanced T2DM risk while the rs17300539 polymorphism did not demonstrate any relationship with T2DM development. However, neither the rs2241766 nor the rs17300539 polymorphisms demonstrated any correlation with the onset of DN.