Association of NFKB1 gene polymorphism (rs28362491) with levels of inflammatory biomarkers and susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy in Asian Indians

AIM: To investigate the association of NFKB1 gene -94 ATTG insertion/deletion (rs28362491) polymorphism with inflammatory markers and risk of diabetic nephropathy in Asian Indians. METHODS: A total of 300 subjects were recruited (100 each), normoglycemic, (NG); type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without any complications (DM) and T2DM with diabetic nephropathy [DM-chronic renal disease (CRD)]. Analysis was carried out by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and ELISA. Pearson’s correlation, analysis of variance and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The allelic frequencies of -94 ATTG insertion/deletion were 0.655/0.345 (NG), 0.62/0.38 (DM) and 0.775/0.225 (DM-CRD). The -94 ATTG ins allele was associated with significantly increased levels of urinary monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (uMCP-1); uMCP-1 (P = 0.026) and plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α); TNF-α (P = 0.030) and almost doubled the risk of diabetic nephropathy (OR = 1.91, 95%CI: 1.080-3.386, P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: -94 ATTG ins/ins polymorphism might be associated with increased risk of developing nephropathy in Asian Indian subjects with diabetes mellitus.