Abstract

BACKGROUND There has been much interest in the role of free radicals and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study was to assess the possible association between genetic polymorphisms of the glutathione S-transferase-mu (GSTT1) and the risk of the development of DM in a sample of Yazdian females in Yazd, Iran. METHODS This was a case-control study in which GSTT1 polymorphism was genotyped in 51 randomly selected DM patients and 50 randomly selected healthy controls among Yazdian females whose ages ranged from 40 to 70. RESULTS The frequencies of GSTT1 null genotype and GSTT1 present were 8 and 92%, respectively, in the control samples. In patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), the frequencies of GSTT1 null genotype and GSTT1 present were 14 and 86%, respectively. There were higher levels of triglycerides (TG), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), body mass index (BMI), and high density lipoprotein (HDL) in patients with GSTT1 null genotype than in patients with the GSTT1 present genotype. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicated that the GSTT1 deletion polymorphism is a risk factor for T2DM. We did not determine any significant association between the GSTT1 null genotype and T2DM.