Association of Angiotensin II Type I Receptor (AGTR1) Gene Polymorphism and Type 2 Diabetes & Nephropathy among the Eastern Indian Bengali Patients

Genetic polymorphisms of the angiotensin II type I receptor (AGTR1), has been reported to be the most probable candidate genes for hypertension, diabetes and complication of diabetes. Ethnic differences in the frequencies of these gene genotypes have also been reported. As there is no data available for AGTR1 polymorphism and T2DM in the Bengali population, it’s our attempt to fill the scientific gap. To investigate whether the angiotensin II type I receptor gene A1166C (rs5186) polymorphism is associated with a risk of type 2 diabetes and nephropathy in Indian Bengali patients, in a case-control study, the AGTR1 gene (rs5186; A1166C) was examined in type 2 diabetic patients with and without nephropathy (T2DM: N=246; T2DNH: N= 168) and normal control (N=304) participants and genotyped using PCR-RFLP methods. Result of Fisher exact test for allelic association of SNP rs5186 exhibits significant difference in the allele frequencies between the control and T2DM groups (p= 0.0308). It is observed through the 4 genotypic model tests that additive model predicted significant association than basic genotype, dominant and recessive models and shows significant difference between CON vs. T2DM groups (p = 0.038). The present study reveals that the A1166C polymorphism (rs5186) of AGTR1 has a positive association with T2DM. This polymorphism with C allele may contribute to diabetic complication, nephropathy development particularly in T2DM patients.