Polymorphisms of ANPEP Gene Are Associated with Microvascular Complications of Type 2 Diabetes

We studied the association of polymorphisms in the aminopeptidase N gene ( ANPEP ) with the development of diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). DNA samples from T2DM patients ( n= 1425) were genotyped for 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using the MassARRAY system. Associations of SNP rs13380049 of the ANPEP gene with a lower risk of diabetic retinopathy (OR=0.54, 95%CI 0.36-0.82, p =0.0032) and nephropathy (OR=0.66, 95%CI 0.44-0.99, p =0.048) were found in T2DM patients. In addition, SNP rs25653 was associated with retinopathy, and polymorphisms rs6496608 , rs72756574 , rs9920421 , and rs4932143 were associated with diabetic nephropathy. The study demonstrated the contribution of ANPEP gene polymorphisms in the determination of microvascular complications in T2DM patients.