BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy is a highly prevalent cause of visual loss in Western countries. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor implicated in the development of the proliferative stage of this disease. Reports have suggested that polymorphisms at positions -460 and -634 of the 5' untranslated region of the VEGF gene increase its basal promoter activity. METHODS: To investigate whether polymorphisms are associated with diabetic retinopathy, 215 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled. Among them, 82 subjects had proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), 72 had non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 61 individuals without retinopathy served as controls. Two polymorphisms of the VEGF gene, a G-->C transversion at -634 (the G/C polymorphism) and a C-->T transition at -460 (the C/T polymorphism), were investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR and allele-specific PCR respectively. RESULTS: We did not find any association between the C/T polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy. However, the G/C polymorphism genotype distribution and the frequency of the C allele were significantly higher in the NPDR group than in control patients (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.03-2.79). Analysis of the distribution of combined genotypes of the VEGF gene revealed the prevalence of the C/C-C/C genotype in NPDR patients (OR = 8.26, 95% CI = 1.79-37.99) and C/G-CC in PDR patients (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.39-8.12). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of the -634C allele appears to be associated with increased VEGF gene promoter activity, and the G/C polymorphism might serve as a predictive factor for the development of diabetic retinopathy.
BACKGROUND:Diabetic retinopathy is a highly prevalent cause of visual loss in Western countries. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor implicated in the development of the proliferative stage of this disease. Reports have suggested that polymorphisms at positions -460 and -634 of the 5' untranslated region of the VEGF gene increase its basal promoter activity. METHODS: To investigate whether polymorphisms are associated with diabetic retinopathy, 215 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled. Among them, 82 subjects had proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), 72 had non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 61 individuals without retinopathy served as controls. Two polymorphisms of the VEGF gene, a G-->C transversion at -634 (the G/C polymorphism) and a C-->T transition at -460 (the C/T polymorphism), were investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR and allele-specific PCR respectively. RESULTS: We did not find any association between the C/T polymorphism and diabetic retinopathy. However, the G/C polymorphism genotype distribution and the frequency of the C allele were significantly higher in the NPDR group than in control patients (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.03-2.79). Analysis of the distribution of combined genotypes of the VEGF gene revealed the prevalence of the C/C-C/C genotype in NPDR patients (OR = 8.26, 95% CI = 1.79-37.99) and C/G-CC in PDR patients (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.39-8.12). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of the -634C allele appears to be associated with increased VEGF gene promoter activity, and the G/C polymorphism might serve as a predictive factor for the development of diabetic retinopathy.
Authors: L P Aiello; R L Avery; P G Arrigg; B A Keyt; H D Jampel; S T Shah; L R Pasquale; H Thieme; M A Iwamoto; J E Park Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 1994-12-01 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Roberto Gonzalez-Salinas; Maria C Garcia-Gutierrez; Gerardo Garcia-Aguirre; Virgilio Morales-Canton; Raul Velez-Montoya; Vidal R Soberon-Ventura; Victoria Gonzalez; Rodrigo Lechuga; Pablo Garcia-Solis; David G Garcia-Gutierrez; Marco Vinicio Garcia-Solis; Manuel Saenz de Viteri; Juan C Solis-S Journal: Int J Ophthalmol Date: 2017-01-18 Impact factor: 1.779