UCP2 and UCP3 variants and gene-environment interaction associated with prediabetes and T2DM in a rural population: a case control study in China

BACKGROUND: There are disparities for the association between uncoupling proteins (UCP) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The study was to examine the associations of genetic variants of UCP2 and UCP3 with prediabetes and T2DM in a rural Chinese population. METHODS: A population-based case-control study of 397 adults with T2DM, 394 with prediabetes and 409 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) was carried out in 2014 in a rural community in eastern China. Three groups were identified through a community survey and the prediabetes and NGT groups were frequently matched by age and gender with the T2DM group and they were not relatives of T2DM subjects. With r(2) ≥ 0.8 and minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥0.05 for tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with potential function, three (rs660339, rs45560234 and rs643064) and six (rs7930460, rs15763, rs647126, rs1800849, rs3781907 and rs1685356) SNPs were selected respectively for UCP2 and UCP3 and genotyped in real time using the MassARRAY system (Sequenom; USA). The haplotypes, gene-environmental interaction and association between genetic variants of UCP2 and UCP3 and prediabetes or T2DM were explored. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and sex among three study groups. After the adjustment for possible covariates, the A allele of rs1800849 in UCP3 was significantly associated with prediabetes (aOR(AA vs GG) = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.02–2.78), and the association was also significant under the recessive model (aOR (AA vs GA + GG) = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.02–2.66). Also, rs15763 was found to be marginally significantly associated with T2DM under dominant model (OR(GA + AA vs GG) = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.52–1.03, P = 0.072). No haplotype was significantly associated with prediabetes or T2DM. Multiplicative interactions for rs660339-overweight on T2DM were observed. In addition, the AA genotype of rs660339 was associated with an increased risk of T2DM in overweight subjects (OR = 1.48, 95%CI: 0.87–2.52) but with a decreased risk in those with normal weight (OR = 0.54, 95%CI: 0.28–1.05). CONCLUSIONS: Rs1800849 in UCP3 was significantly associated with prediabetes. Overweight might modify the effects of rs660339 of UCP2 on T2DM. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12881-018-0554-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.