Objective: To determine the association of the promoter and exon 9 of interleukin 6 receptor gene IL6R and the susceptibility of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese Han population.
Methods: A total of 183 unrelated subjects, including 87 type 2 diabetes and 96 normal glucose tolerant (NGT) controls, were recruited. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were employed to screen the polymorphism.
Results: In the normal glucose tolerant control group, the genotype frequencies and allele frequencies of D358A were AA 31.2%, AC 41.7%, CC 27.1%, A 52.1%, C 47.9%, while the corresponding frequencies in the type 2 diabetes group were AA 44.8%, AC 41.4%, CC 13.8%, A 65.5%, C 34.5% respectively, the CC genotype frequency and C allele frequency of normal glucose tolerant control was higher than that of type 2 diabetes (Chi2 test=4.900, P< 0.05; Chi2 test=6.784, P< 0.01). No differences were found in the genotype frequencies and allele frequencies of -183(G --> A).
Conclusion: The above results suggest that the D358A polymorphism of IL6R maybe correlate with type 2 diabetes in Chinese Han population.