Abstract
Genetic factors are indicated in the development of type 1 diabetes (DM1). Recently, nucleotide variants of BACH2 and SOD2 have been associated with this chronic condition. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of BACH2 rs3757247 and SOD2 rs4880 (Ala16Val) polymorphisms to the risk of DM1 and diabetes long-term complications. Selected polymorphic variants of BACH2 and SOD2 were investigated in a group of 141 patients with DM1 and in a group of age, gender-matched healthy subjects (n=369) using a high-resolution melting curve method. There was no evidence for either allelic or genotypic association with the risk of DM1 and diabetes chronic complications for analysed polymorphisms. In addition, no interaction between BACH2 and SOD2 variants in the development of this condition was observed. However, the frequency of BACH2 rs3757247 AG and AA genotypes was statistically different between DM1 patients with retinopathy and healthy individuals (odds ratio, 2.455; 95% confidence interval, 0.999-6.035; P=0.044), but this result did not survive multiple testing corrections. The present study did not confirm the involvement of BACH2 rs3757247 and SOD2 rs4880 polymorphisms in the development of DM1 and diabetes long-term complications. Further studies in a larger population sample are required.