Association of CD36 gene single nucleotide polymorphism with gestational diabetes mellitus in Chinese Han population

Introduction: It is generally believed that gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) share similar genetic susceptibility and pathogenesis, which is characterized by insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion. Thus it is believed that the two suffer from the same genetic pathogenic background. A variety of studies have confirmed that CD36 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) are significantly associated with T2DM. In this context, this study aims to discover the correlation between the two SNPs in CD36 gene and GDM in Chinese Han population. Materials and Methods: 424 Chinese pregnant women in Han population were analyzed according to clinical parameters. Out of them, 215 normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and 209 GDM patients were genotyped for two SNPs namely rs1761667 (G > A) and rs1527479(C > T) in the CD36 gene using Taqman allelic discrimination assay followed by statistical analysis. Results: The distribution of genotype frequency and allele frequency of rs1527479 and rs1761667 between GDM group and NGT group showed no statistical significance (p > 0.05). In GDM group, the differences of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), zero-hour plasma glucose (PG) in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), body weight (BW) increment, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triglyceride (TG) among three genotypes of rs1761667 indicated statistical significance (p < 0.05). The differences of FPG, zero-hour PG in OGTT, BW increment, total cholesterol (TC), TG, HOMA-IR among three genotypes of rsl 527479 displayed statistical significance (p < 0.05). In NGT group, there were no statistical significance between any genotypes of the two SNPs. Discussion: The genotype and allele frequency distribution of CD36 gene SNPs(rs 1761667 and rsl 527479) were not associated with the risk of GDM. However, the authors observed significant differences between the clinical and biochemical index in different genotypes. Conclusion: Therefore, CD36 gene SNPs (rsl 761667 and rsl 527479) demonstrated a certain correlation with some metabolic index and phenotypes of GDM.