Abstract:
Background: Recent studies have indicated PON 1 polymorphism to be associated
with cardiovascular-related diseases such as diabetes mellitus but varied reports have
been provided from such association studies. In Ghana, there is no such information
on PON 1 polymorphism in disease situations; except one instance reported in non-
diseased Ghanaians. The present study has therefore provided baseline information on
PON 1 Q192R polymorphism in Ghanaians with type II Diabetes Mellitus.
Main Objective: To determine the PON 1 Q192R genotypes in Ghanaian type II
diabetes mellitus patients and its impact on clinical variables
Design: The study was located at the National Diabetes Management and Research
Centre (NDMRC), Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra.
Subjects were recruited
consecutively at the outpatients’ clinic of the NDMRC; and interrogated through a
questionnaire for demographic and clinical information. Fasting blood samples were
collected from 112 Type II diabetes mellitus patients and 97 non-diabetic control
participants. The fasting plasma glucose and lipid profiles were measured. DNA
extracted from the diabetic and control buffy–coat samples was used in determining
the PON 1 Q192R polymorphism, by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment
length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis.
Results: The R allele was strongly associated with diabetes mellitus. All three PON 1
Q192R genotypes (QQ, RR, and QR) were present in Ghanaians with corresponding
frequencies in Type II diabetic population being 18.18%, 74.55%, 7.27% and 33.33%,
57.14%, 9.52% in the control group respectively (χ 2 = 3.432, p = 0.1798). The type II
diabetics in all the PON 1 Q192R genotype groups recorded significantly higher TG
and VLDL levels (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The RR genotype was the most frequent in the populations studied,
whereas the QR genotype was the least frequent. The R allele was significantly
associated with type II diabetes mellitus. PON 1 Q192R RR and QQ genotypes were
associated with high FPG levels in the diabetics.
