CXCL5 Gene Polymorphism Association with Diabetes Mellitus

Background: CXCL5, also known as epithelial cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide (ENA-78), is a chemokine that has a role in the development of cardiovascular and other diseases. We have previously scanned the full length CXCL5 gene and reported the -156G>C (rs352046) polymorphism in the promoter region of this gene. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether there was an association between this polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus or its microvascular complications in an Iranian population. Methods: A total of 230 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from Rafsanjan, in the south-east of Iran; 102 healthy control subjects were recruited from the same area. The region containing the CXCL5 -156G>C polymorphism was genotyped by PCR amplification and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and allele frequency data were analyzed using STATA 8 software. Results: We observed that patients with type 2 diabetes had a higher frequency of carrying either the G/C or C/C genotype compared with healthy controls (C/G + C/C vs G/G; p = 0.004; odds ratio [OR] 2.17; 95% CI 1.27, 3.80). In addition, the frequency of allele C was significantly increased in patients with diabetes compared with controls (p = 0.01; OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.07, 2.86). No association was found between this polymorphism and diabetic microvascular complications. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a role of CXCL5 in the pathogenesis of diabetes. The mechanism behind this role needs to be investigated further. Moreover, replications in other populations with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings.