BACKGROUND: Apo E genetic polymorphism has been proposed as the one of the risk factors for diabetic nephropathy. We studied the association between Apo E genetic polymorphism and the development of microalbuminuria, which is the early stage of diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: Fifty eight subjects with normoalbuminuria and Thirty six subjects with microalbuminuria were enrolled. They were all type 2 diabetic patients who had normal renal function and a history of diabetes longer than a 10 years duration. We examined the mean HbA1c, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels for 10 years, and we also examined several clinical characteristics. We determined the Apo E genotype by performing real time PCR. RESULTS: In the microalbuminuria group, compared with the normoalbuminuria group, the HbA1c (7.6+/-1.3% vs 7.0+/-0.9%, respectively, p=0.012) and mean creatinine (1.2+/-0.7 mg/dL vs 1.0+/-0.2 mg/dL, respectively, p=0.004) levels were significantly higher, and the frequencies of the e3/e4 genotype (5.6% vs 20.7%, respectively, p=0.045) and the E4 carriers (5.9% vs 22.8%, respectively, p=0.035) were significantly lower. On logistic regression analysis, the crude odds ratio of being an E2 carrier and being an E4 carrier were 0.833 (95% CI: 0.245-2.833) and 0.205 (95% CI: 0.043-0.986), respectively. However, the odds ratio after adjusted by HbA1c, hypertension, total cholesterol and triglyceride were 0.664 (95% CI: 0.134-3.289) and 0.365 (95% CI: 0.061-2.187), respectively. There were no correlations between being an Apo E carrier and the lipid levels in the healthy controls and diabetic patients. CONCLUSIONS: Being an E4 carrier might play a role in protecting against the development of microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients and there was no correlation among the Apo E genetic polymorphisms and the lipid levels.
Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; Cholesterol ; Creatinine ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Polymorphism, Genetic* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides