Association of the diabetes gene calpain-10 with subclinical atherosclerosis: the Mexican-American Coronary Artery Disease Study.

The powerful relation between atherosclerosis and diabetes may have a common genetic basis. However, few genes predisposing to both have been identified. Calpain-10 (CAPN10) was the first gene for type 2 diabetes identified by positional cloning, wherein a combination of haplotypes conferred increased risk of diabetes. We sought to determine whether CAPN10 influences subclinical atherosclerosis. Among nondiabetic subjects from 85 Mexican-American families with a history of coronary artery disease, subclinical atherosclerosis was assessed by common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), insulin sensitivity was assessed by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, and insulin secretion was estimated by the oral glucose tolerance test. These phenotypes were tested for association with CAPN10 haplotypes. Haplotype 1112 (of single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] 44, 43, 56, and 63) was associated with increased IMT, while haplotype 1221 was associated with decreased IMT. The 112/121 haplotype combination (of SNPs 43, 56, and 63), originally found to confer increased risk for diabetes, was associated with the largest IMT in our study population. CAPN10 was also associated with both insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. Covariate analysis suggested that CAPN10 affects IMT independently of these diabetes-related phenotypes. The fact that the diabetes gene CAPN10 also influences the risk for atherosclerosis shows that inherited factors may underlie the frequent co-occurrence of these two conditions.