Analysis of Polymorphisms at the Adiponectin Gene Locus in Association with Type 2 Diabetes, Body Mass Index and Cardiovascular Traits in Latvian Population

Despite the number of recently conducted studies seeking to determine the association between genetic variants of adiponectin gene and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D) and increased body mass index (BMI), the results obtained are often inconsistent. To determine the impact of common polymorphisms in promoter and coding regions of adiponectin gene on these conditions in Latvian population, we selected ten SNPs (rs2241767, rs1501299, rs3777261, rs16861210, rs2241766, rs822396, rs182052, rs17300539, rs16861194, rs266729) based on haploblock structure and previously reported association studies. The selected SNPs were screened in a study group of 835 participants from the Genome Data Base of Latvian Population and mainly consisted of patients with T2D and coronary heart disease. None of the individual polymorphisms were significantly associated with T2D status or BMI when analysed using logistic or linear regression and adjusted for gender, age and other significant covariates. Frequency of rs2241766 T allele homozygotes however was significantly increased in T2D patients compared to controls (uncorrected P = 0.007). When analysed with other traits, the rs182052 G allele was found to be less frequent in patients suffering from myocardial infarction (P = 0.02; OR = 0.76, CI95% [0.61-0.92]) compared to others. Haplotype analysis revealed significant association of one haplotype with atrial fibrillation (uncorrected P = 0.01). In summary, we conclude that SNPs in adiponectin gene are unlikely to represent the risk for T2D, but may be involved in pathogenesis of CHD in the Latvian population.