Association of A1538G and C2437T single nucleotide polymorphisms in heat shock protein-70 genes with diabetic nephropathy among South Indian population.

Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, characterized by progressive albuminuria and conferring additional risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. The crucial role of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) on renal function in patients with DN has been well documented. The present study was aimed to understand the association of gene variants on the susceptibility of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and DN. A total of 946 subjects (549 Males; 397 Females) were recruited and divided into four groups according to the levels of urinary albumin excretion (UAE): those with normoalbuminuria (UAE <30 mg/24 h; =230), those with microalbuminuria (30≤ UAE ≤300 mg/24 h; =230), and those with macroalbuminuria (UAE> 300 mg/24 h; =230). The control group randomly enrolled a consecutive population of 256 healthy subjects who had a routine medical check-up in our hospital. Those subjects had no history or clinical symptoms of diabetes. Subjects were genotyped for (+1538 A/G; rs2763979) and (+2437 C/T; rs2227956) by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The 'G' allele of (+1538 A/G) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) showed relative risk for normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria subjects whereas the 'T' allele of (+2437 C/T) SNP showed significant protection against macroalbuminuria subjects. In conclusion, our results indicate that the (+1538 A/G) and (+2437 C/T) SNPs are highly associated with renal complications in T2DM among the South Indian population.