We hypothesized that common variants at the <i>HNF1A</i> locus (rs1169288 [I27L], rs1800574 [A98V]), which are associated with type 2 diabetes susceptibility, may modify age at diabetes diagnosis in individuals with HNF1A-MODY.
The common variants p.I27L (rs1169288), p.A98V (rs1800574) and p.S487N (rs2464196) of the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-α (HNF1A) gene have been inconsistently associated with impaired glucose tolerance and/or an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Significant associations between the heterozygote A98V genotype and clinical parameters of insulin metabolism were reported but no relationship with type 2 diabetes was obtained.
We studied the effect of four common polymorphisms (rs1920792, I27L, A98V and S487N) in and upstream of the HNF-1alpha gene on transcriptional activity in vitro, and their possible association with type 2 diabetes and insulin secretion in vivo.
Polymorphisms of these genes (Ala45Thr [NEUROD1], Ser199Phe [NEUROG3], and Ala98Val [TCF1]) have been postulated to influence the development of type 2 diabetes.
Progress to date in the molecular genetics of T2DM in youth is limited to one population, the Oji-Cree Native Canadians, where the private variant - G319S - a variant of HNF1A strongly predisposes to diabetes in children as well as in adults.
The risk of Type 2 diabetes was similar (approximately five-fold increased) for subjects with either the presence of the modified metabolic syndrome or the private HNF1A G319S mutation.
A common variant, G319S, private to the Oji-Cree population, predisposes to type 2 diabetes, but the role of common HNF1alpha variation in European populations has not been comprehensively assessed.
The demonstration of a functional consequence for HNF1A G319S provides a mechanistic basis for its strong association with Oji-Cree type 2 diabetes and its unparalleled specificity for diabetes prediction in these people, in whom diabetes presents a significant public health dilemma.
Because HNF-1alpha is involved in the transcription of several apolipoprotein genes, we tested for an association between the private HNF1A G319S variant and plasma lipoproteins in a sample of 55 unrelated Oji-Cree subjects with type 2 diabetes and 175 unrelated Oji-Cree subjects without type 2 diabetes.
Among the Oji-Cree of northern Ontario, we previously identified a novel variant in the HNF1A gene, namely G319S, that was strongly associated with type 2 diabetes.
Mutation p.T130I was associated with both early-onset and late-onset diabetes and caused downregulated HNF4A expression, whereas HNF1A polymorphisms p.I27L and p.S487N were associated with the age of diagnosis of diabetes.