Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Insertion/Deletion gene polymorphism in patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic peripheral polyneuropathy

The aim of this work was to study for the first time in Romania Insertion/Deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) gene in a group of patients with established type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) compared with a control group.

This was a case-control study consisting of a group of 84 patients with type 2 DM and DPN, diagnosed by clinical neurological examination and electrophysiological nerve conduction studies and a control group of 90 healthy volunteers. For deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) isolation, a DNA purification kit from Zymo Research was used. In vitro amplification of DNA sequences was achieved by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Selective in vitro amplification of a DNA fragment of known sequence is based on the principle of extension of a primer (“primer and PCR amplicon”). DNA fragments were separated by gel electrophoresis. For proper viewing and interpreting of agarose gels Vilber Lourmat system was used. D allele frequency of VEGF was significantly higher in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (53.57%) compared with controls (25%), p=0.0001.

There is a positive association between I/D polymorphism of VEGF gene and the presence of diabetic peripheral polyneuropathy. Our study suggests that D allele of VEGF gene is a risk factor for the occurrence of DPN.