Genetic variation of the transcription factor GATA3, not STAT4, is associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes in the Bangladeshi population

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a multifactorial metabolic disorder caused by environmental factors and has a strong association with hereditary issues. These hereditary issues result in an imbalance in CD4(+)T cells and a decreased level of naïve CD4(+)T cells, which may be critical in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Transcription factors GATA3 and STAT4 mediate the cytokine-induced development of naïve T cells into Th1 or Th2 types. In the present study, genetic analyses of GATA3 SNP rs3824662 and STAT4 SNP rs10181656 were performed to investigate the association of allelic and genotypic variations with the risk of T2D in the Bangladeshi population. A total of 297 unrelated Bangladeshi patients with type 2 diabetes and 247 healthy individuals were included in the study. The allelic and genotypic frequencies of rs10181656 located in the STAT4 gene were not found to be associated with risk of type 2 diabetes. The GATA3 rs3824662 T allele and mutant TT genotype had a significant association with the risk of T2D [OR: 1.52 (1.15–2.02), X(2) = 8.66, p = 0.003 and OR: 2.98 (1.36–6.55), X(2) = 7.98, p = 0.04, respectively]. Thus, the present study postulates that the genetic variation of the transcription factor GATA3, not STAT4, is associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes in the Bangladeshi population.