Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes increase the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension

We investigated the effect of polymorphisms in four DNA repair genes, . Arg302Gln (G>A) (rs373572), Asp312Asn (G>A) (rs1799793), Asp148Glu (T>G) (rs3136820), and Ser326Cys (C>G) (rs1052133) on the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension (HT) in association with smoking, tobacco chewing, and alcohol consumption in a population from Northeast India. The study subjects were comprised of 70 patients suffering from both T2DM and HT and 83 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using ARMS-PCR for Asp312Asn (G>A) and PCR-CTPP for Arg302Gln (G>A), Asp148Glu (T>G) and Ser326Cys (C>G). The Gln/Gln genotype was found to significantly increase the risk for T2DM and HT by 30 fold. Significant high risk was observed for individuals with Asn/Asn- Arg/Gln genotypes. Smoking was found to be the single most important independent risk factor for T2DM and HT. This study concludes that Arg302Gln and Asp312Asn polymorphisms might increase the risk for T2DM and HT in association with smoking, tobacco chewing, and/or alcohol consumption, while Asp148Glu (T>G) and Ser326Cys (C>G) polymorphisms do not contribute to such risk.