This study was aimed to examine cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), apolipoprotein AI and CIII gene polymorphisms, and to verify whether these genetic determinants are associated with the prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI) or type 2 diabetes. The TaqIB restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in intron I of the CETP gene, the MspI in the third intron of the APOAI gene, and also SstI in the 3' untranslated region of the APOCIII gene were determined using standard methods. The prevalence of these polymorphisms was compared between diabetic (n = 119), and non-diabetic (n = 100) middle-aged individuals of both sexes. We found a higher prevalence of the B2B2 genotype of the CETP gene among diabetics than that observed in non-diabetics (P < 0.05), and a lower prevalence of this genotype among patients with previous MI (P < 0.02). The MspI polymorphisms of the APOAI gene showed that M1++ genotype was found mainly in diabetic patients (P < 0.04). Conversely, the SstI polymorphism of APOCIII gene was not significantly associated with either MI or diabetes. Therefore, among these genetic polymorphisms, TaqIB of CETP and MspI of apolipoprotein AI appeared to help significantly to identify diabetic individuals. In particular, the former may have an additional role in the primary prevention of coronary disease.