Association of polymorphisms in CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population

Aims: CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 are cytochrome P450 epoxygenases responsible for metabolizing arachidonic acid into epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). These EETs play a crucial role as lipid mediators with numerous beneficial effects in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 genetic variants with T2DM in a Chinese population. Methods: We conducted genotyping for 9 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CYP2C8 and 10 tag SNPs in CYP2C9 based on HapMap Chinese and Japanese data. Subsequently, we genotyped these SNPs in a Chinese cohort comprising 3410 individuals with T2DM and 3401 healthy controls. Statistical analyses were performed to assess the association between these SNPs and T2DM. Results: In our study population, we observed that rs1819173, located within the CYP2C9 gene region, was significantly associated with T2DM. Notably, the presence of the A allele was found to be protective against T2DM, as indicated by an odds ratio of 0.840 (95 % confidence interval: 0.780-0.904, P = 3.04 x 10-6). Furthermore, specific haplotypes (GT and AT) involving rs2071426 and rs6583967 in CYP2C8 exhibited associations with T2DM (P = 0.049 and 0.038, respectively). Subsequently, we conducted an analysis of the association between rs1819173 and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), revealing a significant correlation (OR = 0.764, 95 % CI: 0.629-0.928, P = 0.007). Conclusion: Our research identified a genetic variants rs1819173 within CYP2C8 are significantly associated with T2DM susceptibility in the Chinese population.