Lack of association between diabetic nephropathy and human leukocyte antigen type 2 (HLA II-DQ1) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in west of Iran

Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy (diabetic kidney disease) is one of the microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is a group of genes that is related to autoimmune diseases, infections and inflammation. Studies regarding the association of type 2diabetes and HLA-II are negligible. Objectives: The aim of this study is to determinate association between diabetic nephropathy and HLA II-DQ1 in diabetes type 2 patients. Patients and Methods: In this study, 120 diabetes type 2 patients were divided into two groups of diabetic nephropathy (case group) and without diabetic nephropathy (control group). Blood samples were taken and DNA was isolated. Asymmetric polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the HLA II-DQ1 exon 2 and exon 3. PCR products were hybridized and labeled with probes on the chip. Determination of HLAII-DQ1 gene typing was conducted by scanning hybrid products and analyzed with PerkinElmer ScanArray software. Results: The results of chi-square test showed no significant difference between expression levels of HLA in the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: There was no significant difference between expression levels of HLA in two groups of patients. Various factors such as demographic characteristics, lifestyle, geographic region, and race are the factors influencing the relationship between diabetic nephropathy and DQ1-HLA II. Since this study is conducted in one region and one race and with limited population, it is suggested that future studies should be considered and the association between the mentioned variables with HLA should be considered.