TCF7L2 Polymorphisms in Type 2 Diabetes, Insight from HRM and ARMS Techniques

Diabetes is a biological problem of life in a new way in human societies, especially in developing countries. Environmental and genetic factors are mutually influential in the incidence and exacerbation of this disease. One of the genes is the transcription factor TCF7L2 that has been proven in many studies in different communities to play a role in diabetes and is located on chromosome 10. Two SNPs for this gene, rs12255372 and rs7903146, have been recorded on the NCBI site and have a direct and significant correlation with type 2 diabetes. In this study, the genotypic frequency of these two SNPs was studied using ARMS and HRM techniques.

This study was performed on 100 patients with type 2 diabetes and 100 healthy individuals as non-diabetic controls. Diabetics were selected from patients referred to Ali Asghar Diabetes Clinic in Zahedan. The control group consisted of individuals who did not meet the criteria for diabetes or had no family history of diabetes in first- or second-degree relatives. DNA extraction was performed using the phenol-chloroform method and finally, PCR was performed for a specific primer.

ARMS results showed that the number of people with SNP rs7903146 ​​in diabetic patients is significantly higher than those in the control. However, the difference was not significant for rs12255372. HRM results were also highly correlated with ARMS and showed very precise allelic differentiation in the studied population for both positions.

In general, since HRM is a relatively inexpensive technique and a large number of samples can be analyzed in a few hours, the results of this study can be used in the preparation of diagnostic kits based on this method in these two and other sites related to diabetes.