OBJECTIVETo study the association of the Pro12Ala and C1431T polymorphism of the PPAR gamma2 gene and their haplotypes with obesity and type 2 diabetes in Chinese population.

METHODSPCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to determine the Pro12Ala and C1431T polymorphisms in 207 patients with type 2 diabetes and 101 non-diabetic control subjects.

RESULTS(1) In non-diabetic control population, the Ala allele frequency was 0.064, the T1431 allele frequency was 0.252. Haplotype analysis showed that the Pro12Ala and C1431T polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium (Do=0.63, r(2)=0.074), which constituted three major haplotypes Pro-C, Pro-T and Ala-T. (2) There were no significant differences of the distribution frequencies of the Pro12Ala and C1431T polymorphism and their haplotypes between the type 2 diabetes mellitus group and non-diabetic control group (P > 0.05). (3) The Pro12Ala polymorphism was associated with blood pressure and lipidemia in diabetic patients. The Ala allele significantly decreased the diastolic blood pressure of non-obese diabetic patients (P < 0.05), but it did not benefit to the obese diabetic patients for the lipidemia (P < 0.05). The C1431T polymorphism was associated with overweight and obesity in diabetic patients. The T1431 allele frequency in the body mass index > or = 25 layer was significantly higher than that in the body mass index < 25 layer (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe Pro12Ala and C1431T polymorphisms of the PPAR gamma2 gene might not be a major etiological factor for type 2 diabetes; the C1431T polymorphism was associated with overweight or obesity in diabetic patients.