non-muscle myosin heavy chain 9 gene (myh9) polymorphism (rs4821481) is associated with urinary albumin excretion in iranian diabetic patients

conclusions although we found an association between myh9 gene polymorphism and urinary albumin excretion, the results did not show a significant association between myh9 polymorphism (rs4821481) and risk of dn in iranian diabetic patients. background myosin heavy chain 9 (myh9) gene polymorphisms have been implicated in different types of renal disease, as well as in nephropathy attributed to type 2 diabetes mellitus. objectives this study sought to analyze the association of myh9 gene polymorphism (rs4821481) with diabetic nephropathy (dn), urine albumin excretion value, and glomerular filtration rate (gfr) in an iranian diabetic population. methods this case-control study included 201 diabetic patients with and without dn, who were referred to the diabetes and metabolic center, tehran, iran. the allele and genotype frequencies of rs4821481 were determined using arms-polymerase chain reaction (arms-pcr). in both groups, blood levels of fasting glucose, hba1c, urea, creatinine, uric acid, and lipids, as well as urine albumin and creatinine, were measured and gfr was calculated. results patients who carried the rs4821481 polymorphism had significantly higher urinary excretion of albumin (p < 0.05) and insignificantly lower gfr values (p = 0.08). the frequency of rs4821481 snp was 22.8% in patients without dn versus 28% in the dn group, which was not statistically significant. only 2% and 3% of patients without dn and with dn, respectively, had two copies of the c allele. no significant association was found between the rs4821481 polymorphism and dn (or [95% ci] 1.56 [0.79 - 3.08], p = 0.19).