Abstract
In recent years, it has been widely accepted that transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in multiple ethnic groups, especially its single nucleotide polymorphisms of rs7903146C/T, rs12255372G/T and rs290487T/C. However, the results previously obtained in Chinese Han population are often inconsistent. For clearing this issue, herein we performed meta-analysis based on the reports that can be found to assess the association. In the meta-analysis, Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated with random-effect model or fixed-effect model based on the heterogeneity analysis. The quality of included studies was evaluated by using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The sensitivity analysis was used to confirm the reliability and stability of the meta-analysis. In total, 20 case-control studies with 9122 cases of T2DM and 8017 controls were included. Among these case-control studies, we selected 13 ones on rs7903146 C/T, 5 ones on rs12255372 G/T, 8 ones on rs290487 T/C. The results indicated that rs7903146C/T polymorphism was significantly associated with T2DM (T vs. C, OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.39–2.16). There was no evidence that rs12255372G/T and rs290487T/C polymorphisms increased T2DM risk (T vs. G, OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 0.88–3.56; C vs. T, OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.93–1.25). Subgroup analysis of different regions proved the relationship between rs7903146C/T polymorphism and T2DM risk in both the northern and the southern China. The association of rs290487 with T2DM was affected by body mass index, whereas the association of rs7903146 and rs290487 with T2DM was influenced neither by age nor by sex. In conclusion, this study indicated that the rs7903146C/T polymorphism of the TCF7L2 gene had a significant effect on T2DM risk in Chinese Han population, with rs12255372G/T and rs290487T/C polymorphisms showing no significant effect.
Highlights
One of the most challenging health problems of the twentyoneth century is type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
There was no evidence that rs12255372G/T and rs290487T/C polymorphisms increased T2DM risk (T vs. G, Odds ratio (OR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88–3.56; C vs. T, OR = 1.08, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.93–1.25)
This study indicated that the rs7903146C/T polymorphism of the transcription factor 7like 2 (TCF7L2) gene had a significant effect on T2DM risk in Chinese Han population, with rs12255372G/T and rs290487T/C polymorphisms showing no significant effect
Summary
One of the most challenging health problems of the twentyoneth century is type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It represents a significant disease burden on human beings, both in developed and developing countries [1], and affects 285 million people all over the world. T2DM is a complex metabolic disease that results from the combination of genetic and environmental factors [3]. Grant and colleagues [4] reported on the association of transcription factor 7like 2 (TCF7L2) polymorphism with T2DM in an Icelandic casecontrol sample. The TCF7L2 gene is regarded as one of the most important genes in determining the genetic susceptibility for T2DM in Europeans [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], West Africans [11], Mexican Americans [12], Southern Asians [13], and Chinese [14–
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