RESTRICTED GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENSION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF A GLUCAGON RECEPTOR GENE MUTATION (GLY40SER) WITH NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS

A mutation within the glucagon receptor gene (GRG) at codon 40 (Gly40S er) was reported to be associated with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in France and Sardinia. Since the frequency of the mu tation, about 5% in the French and 8% in the Sardinian group, was high er than that of any of the candidate gene mutations described so far, it appeared to be relevant to determine the prevalence within differen t populations. While a single mutation has not been found recently eit her in a Japanese, a Finnish or a Dutch cohort, but only in a British study in 2.2% of NIDDM patients, in this study we investigated the ass ociation of this mutation with NIDDM in 104 German patients by polymer ase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis ( PCR-RFLP). None of the German NIDDM patients had a Gly40Ser mutation. The results indicate that the mutation plays little role in susceptibi lity to NIDDM in this German region, and also indicate the genetic het erogeneity in NIDDM, and further emphasize the importance of studies i n different ethnic groups.