Association between vitamin D receptor FokI gene polymorphism and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Ethiopian population

Abstract

Vitamin D receptor genes, including FokI gene polymorphisms, have been widely studied and shown to be associated with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus in various populations. The objective of this study was to determine the association between vitamin D receptor FokI gene polymorphisms and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Seventy type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and 70 healthy controls participated in an age- and sex-matched hospital-based case-control study. We assessed demographic data to determine the related risk factors. Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted from blood samples and subjected to polymerase chain reaction and agarose gel electrophoresis analysis to determine the FokI genotypes. Both the FokI ff genotype (odds ratio 3.16; 95% confidence level 1.25-7.75; P = 0.012) and f allele (odds ratio 2.21; 95% confidence level 1.35-3.62; P = 0.0015) were substantially more prevalent in patients than in controls, suggesting that they may be risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The findings point to a potential link between FokI gene polymorphisms and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Ethiopian population under study.