engleski

The relationship between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy in Croatian type 2 diabetic patients

Diabetic nephropathy is a serious microangiopathic complication of diabetes mellitus and the leading cause of chronic renal disease and end stage renal failure. The etiology of diabetic nephropathy is multifactorial and involves not only chronic hyperglycaemia and arterial hypertension, but also environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is one of the key enzymes in the metabolism of homocysteine, where it catalyses homocysteine remethylation to methionine. The aim of this study is to determine the correlation between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and microalbuminuria as an early sign of diabetic nephropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 in Croatian population. Our study did not show a correlation between mutations in the MTHFR gene and diabetic nephropathy in Croatian population. However, the possibility that MTHFR polymorphism could be a risk factor for nephropathy cannot be completely excluded because diabetic nephropathy is influenced by multiple risk factors which can modify the importance of MTHFR polymorphism in its development. To detect that correlation it would be necessary to conduct larger additional studies in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

MTHFR polymporphism; diabetes; nephropathy

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