GENETIC CONTRIBUTION OF POLYMORPHISM OF THE GLUT1 AND GLUT4 GENES TO THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO TYPE-2 (NON-INSULIN-DEPENDENT) DIABETES-MELLITUSIN DIFFERENT POPULATIONS

Polymorphic variation of genes encoding the glucose transporters glyco proteins (GLUT) may contribute to the genetic susceptibility to type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. In this study we evaluated the alle le and genotype frequencies of GLUT1 and GLUT4 restriction fragment le ngth polymorphism (RFLP), revealed by digestion with XbaI for GLUT1 an d KpnI for GLUT4, in Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Asian Indian and Am erican black populations. No differences of the KpnI GLUT 4 RFLP were found between control and diabetic subjects in any ethnic group or whe n all data are combined. In contrast, positive results were found for the XbaI RFLP: (1) most ethnic groups showed an association of allele 1 with type 2 diabetes, and this association was maintained when all g roups were analysed together; (2) after stratifying for sex and obesit y, this association was significant only for overweight/obese women. T his joint analysis suggests that GLUT1 polymorphism may contribute to susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in some populations, and especially in overweight/obese women.