Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Diabetes mellitus or more appropriately type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most heterogeneous form of diabetes which is caused by complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Although genome-wide analysis has found several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in association with T2DM, their documented role is ambiguous and very few studies have reported about the correlation of particular gene expression with T2DM. In this study, we aimed to examine the correlation of AEG-1 gene expression in peripheral blood monocytes with type II diabetes.

Methods: This cross sectional study includes 17 newly diagnosed T2DM patients and 16 healthy nonglycemic control subjects of Bangladeshi origin without any current treatment regimen. Peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) were sorted from the whole blood and RNA was extracted followed by Q-RT PCR analysis to study the gene expression patterns.

Results: Our study suggests that Aeg-1 gene expression in peripheral blood monocytes of newly diagnosed patients with type II diabetes is significantly higher than control subjects. Aeg-1 gene expression is positively correlated with BMI index and increased level was observed in patients with BMI index of 30 or more.

Conclusion: Our study indicates that elevated expression of AEG-1 gene is a novel risk factors for type II diabetes.