Genetic polymorphism in ADRB2 is associated with risk of severe hypoglycemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes, especially in those with impaired hypoglycemia awareness.
This effect was driven by a significant increase in β(2)-adrenergic receptor sensitivity following hypoglycaemia compared with euglycaemia in ArgArg participants (p = 0.019), whereas no such effect was observed in the GlyGly participants.
We performed genotyping of the A265G (Arg16Gly) polymorphism in the ADRB2 gene in 85 patients with type 1 diabetes and classified them according to hypoglycemia awareness status.
We conclude that patients with type 1 diabetes who carry two alleles of the Gly16 variant of ADRB2 are at increased risk of developing hypoglycemia unawareness.