Common Variants of Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1β Are Associated With Type 2 Diabetes in a Chinese Population

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocyte nuclear factor 1β (HNF1β) is a transcription factor that is critical for pancreatic cell formation and glucose homeostasis. Previous studies have reported that common variants of HNF1β were associated with type 2 diabetes in Caucasians and West Africans. However, analysis in the subjects from the Botnia study and Malmö Preventive Project produced conflicting results, and the role for HNF1β in type 2 diabetes susceptibility remains unclear. We therefore investigated common variants across the HNF1β gene in a Chinese population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fifteen tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed for association with type 2 diabetes in subjects with type 2 diabetes (n = 1,859) and normal glucose regulation (n = 1,785). RESULTS: Consistent with the initial study, we observed evidence that the risk G allele of rs4430796 in intron 2 was significantly associated with type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 1.16 [95% CI 1.05–1.29], P = 0.0035, empirical P = 0.0475). Furthermore, the at-risk G allele was associated with earlier age at diagnosis in the type 2 diabetic subjects (P = 0.0228). CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study provides evidence that variants in the HNF1β region contribute to susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in the Chinese population.