Aims/hypothesis: The Pro12Ala polymorphism of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)gamma has been consistently associated with Type 2 diabetes. The rare Ala12 variant is estimated to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 20 percent. This variant is in linkage disequilibrium with another common variant, T1431. Both have opposing associations with body weight. We therefore examined the association of specific haplotypes marked by these two variants with susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes.
Methods: We determined the PPARG genotype of a large Scottish cohort of Type 2 diabetic patients ( n=1997) and compared allele frequencies with a cohort of local children ( n=2444) and a middle-aged, population-based cohort from Scotland ( n=1061).
Results: Frequency of the Ala12 allele was slightly lower in the Type 2 diabetic cohort than in the children [odds ratio (OR)=0.91, p=0.1]. In contrast, the Ala12 variant was under-represented in the Type 2 diabetic population when compared with similarly aged non-diabetic adults (OR=0.74, p=0.0006). When the Ala12 variant was on a haplotype not bearing the 1431T variant, it conferred greater protection (OR=0.66, p=0.003). However, when it was present in haplotypes containing the 1431T variant (70% of Ala12 carriers), this protection was absent (OR=0.99, p=0.94).
Conclusions/interpretation: We replicated the finding that the Ala12 variant of PPARgamma affords protection from Type 2 diabetes, and suggest that this protection is modulated by additional common variation at the PPARG locus.