Aims: The phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene (PCK1) is a potential candidate gene in the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. A -232C/G promoter polymorphism of PCK1 has been associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in a Canadian population. The purpose of the present study was to examine this association in a German Caucasian population.
Methods: We investigated 397 subjects with Type 2 diabetes [227 men, 170 women, age 63 +/- 11 years, body mass index (BMI) 28.7 +/- 5.1 kg/m2] and 431 control subjects without diabetes (247 men, 184 women, age 64 +/- 7 years, BMI 26.5 +/- 3.7 kg/m2) matched for sex and age.
Results: In the diabetic and control groups, the CC genotype frequencies were 18.1 and 18.3%, the CG 48.6 and 48.7% and the GG 33.2 and 32.9%, respectively (P = 0.995). The allelic frequencies were 0.51 and 0.57 for the G allele and 0.49 and 0.43 for the C allele, respectively. In a logistic regression model only BMI and family history, but not the polymorphism, were predictors of Type 2 diabetes. In both the control and diabetic subjects, there were no significant differences in BMI or blood pressure between the groups with or without the polymorphism. The variant also had no significant influence on the presence of atherosclerotic disease, while the influence of other known cardiovascular risk factors was confirmed.
Conclusions: The present data suggest that, in a German Caucasian population, the -232C/G polymorphism of the PEPCK gene is not associated with Type 2 diabetes.