Showing papers by "Michael A. Province published in 1992"

Glucokinase gene is genetic marker for NIDDM in American blacks.

Abstract: Glucokinase (ATP:d-glucose-6-phosphotransferase), expressed exclusively in liver and pancreatic islet β-cells, catalyzes the first step of glycolysis and acts as glucose sensor and metabolic signal generator in these tissues. The enzyme plays a key role in glucose homeostasis and as such is an excellent candidate for inherited defects predisposing to non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). A compound-imperfect dinucleotide (CA)n repeat element was found ∼10-kb 3′ of the human glucokinase gene on chromosome 7p, which revealed polymorphism with alleles differing in size by 2–15 nucleotides in unrelated individuals. A polymerase chain reaction assay was developed, and genomic DNA from 275 biologically unrelated American black individuals was typed for glucokinase alleles. The differences in allelic frequencies between individuals with NIDDM and nondiabetic individuals were compared. After typing 112 diabetic and 163 nondiabetic subjects, we found five different-sized alleles, with Z defined as the most common allele, Z + 2 , Z + 4 , Z + 10, and Z − 15. The Z allele was more common in nondiabetic subjects than in diabetic patients (60.4 vs. 49.6%, P = 0.012). The Z + 4 allele was more common in diabetic patients than in nondiabetic subjects (20.1 vs. 12.0%, P = 0.009). After adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index, the Z + 4 allele continued to have a positive association with NIDDM ( P = 0.0018), and the Z allele had a negative association with NIDDM ( P = 0.0334). The Z + 4 allele, transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait, appeared to be the most significant one at this locus. No difference was found in the clinical characteristics between the diabetic patients with or without the Z + 4 allele, after adjusting for multiple comparisons. These results indicate that the dinucleotide (CA)n repeat polymorphism at the glucokinase locus is a genetic marker for NIDDM in American blacks. We estimate that the presence of at least one Z + 4 allele increases the odds of NIDDM in this racial group by 2.85 times for the same age, sex, and body mass index combination.

Family study of α1‐antitrypsin deficiency: Effects of cigarette smoking, measured genotype, and their interaction on pulmonary function and biochemical traits

Abstract: To gain insight into the variable expression of lung disease in alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1AT) deficiency, five quantitative variables including forced expiratory volume at 1 sec (FEV1), forced expiratory flow rate between 25 and 75% of forced vital capacity (FEF25-75), total serum alpha 1AT, oxidized serum alpha 1AT, and total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) were measured in alpha 1AT deficient individuals and their families. The effect of a known, measured genotype (the Pi type) was estimated for each quantitative trait; the influence of mode of case ascertainment on the measured genotype effect was also assessed. These analyses showed that total alpha 1AT levels are strongly influenced by Pi type; IgE levels are unaffected by Pi type; and FEV1, FEF25-75, and oxidized alpha 1AT are moderately influenced by Pi type. The effect of genotype-by-environment interaction between Pi type and pack-years of cigarette smoking on the five quantitative phenotypes was studied using an analysis of covariance. Significant Pi x pack-years interaction was evident for FEV1, but this effect is confounded in this data set with the Pi x age interaction. Probands who were ascertained because they had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) do not demonstrate the significant Pi x pack-years interaction effect of the Pi x pack-years subjects ascertained for other reasons demonstrate. The effect of the Pi x pack-years interaction on FEV1 was no longer significant on a transformed scale, (FEVf12,) thus providing an additive scale for future data analysis. The increased sensitivity of Pi MZ individuals in our sample to cigarette smoking reduced the Pi x packs-years interaction effect on FEF25-75 to borderline significance. This investigation has provided an opportunity to incorporate both measured genotype and genotype-by-environment interaction analyses into the study of the variable expression of lung disease in Pi Z individuals.

A genetic marker at the glucokinase gene locus for type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in Mauritian Creoles.

Abstract: The prevalence of Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus is high in Mauritius, a multiethnic island nation in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Evaluation of candidate genes in the different ethnic groups represents a means of assessing the genetic component. As glucokinase is known to be a key regulator of glucose homeostasis in liver and pancreatic Beta-cells, the human gene was isolated and a dinucleotide repeat (CA)n marker was identified at this locus. A polymerase chain reaction assay was developed, and alleles differing in size were observed in individuals, according to the number of repeats in the amplified fragment. Eighty-five Creoles and 63 Indians of known glucose tolerance status were typed by amplification of genomic DNA for this dinucleotide (CA)n repeat marker. Four different alleles were observed including Z, the most common allele, and Z+2, Z+4, and Z+10, which differed from Z by 2, 4, and 10 nucleotides respectively. In Mauritian Creoles, the frequency of the Z+2 allele was greater in Type 2 diabetic subjects than in control subjects (23.8 % vs 8.9 %, p=0.008), and the frequency of the Z allele was lower in Type 2 diabetic subjects (60% vs 75.6%, p=0.03). Analysis with univariate logistic regression models indicated that the Z+2 allele had the highest odds ratio, 3.08 (95% confidence interval 1.14–8.35, p=0.0416), among the other risk factors (age, sex, body mass index, and waist/hip ratio). The multivariate odds ratio for Type 2 diabetes was 2.88 (95% confidence interval 0.98–8.50, p=0.0551). In contrast, in the Mauritian Indian population, no differences were noted between the frequency of any glucokinase allele in the Type 2 diabetic and control groups. These data suggest that the Z+2 allele is an important risk factor for Type 2 diabetes in Mauritian Creoles, but not in Mauritian Indians, and also imply that the glucokinase gene may play a role in the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes in Mauritian Creoles. Further studies are needed to define the nature of this defect.

Interactions between hypertension and diabetes on vascular function and structure in rats

Abstract: Regional 125I-albumin permeation and glomerular structural changes were assessed in male Sprague-Dawley rats with diabetes and/or hypertension. All rats underwent unilateral nephrectomy 2 weeks after induction of diabetes with streptozotocin. At the same time, one-half of the nondiabetic and diabetic animals were placed on 1% saline drinking water and given weekly intramuscular injections of deoxycorticosterone acetate to induce hypertension (systolic blood pressure greater than 150 mm Hg). Vascular permeability studies were performed after 1 and 3 months of hypertension. Hypertension, alone or in combination with diabetes, had no effect on weight gain, plasma glucose, or food consumption, but did increase 24-h urine volume in nondiabetics. In normotensive diabetics and in nondiabetic hypertensive rats, vascular 125I-albumin permeation was increased in eyes, aorta, and new granulation tissue (formed in a subcutaneous fabric implant), and glomerular basement membranes were thickened without any change in the fractional volume of the glomerulus occupied by mesangium. Urinary albumin and IgG excretion in nondiabetic hypertensive rats was increased much more than in normotensive diabetics. Hypertension and diabetes were additive in their effects on 125I-albumin permeation in eyes, aorta, and granulation tissue, and on glomerular basement membrane thickening, but were synergistic in their effects on urinary albumin excretion and mesangial fractional volume. The magnitude of the increase in vascular albumin permeation and urinary albumin and IgG excretion between and 1 and 3 months was much larger in diabetic hypertensive rats than in rats with hypertension or diabetes alone. Neither diabetes nor hypertension, alone or in combination, had any effect on albumin permeation in skeletal muscle, skin, heart, or brain. These findings demonstrate that hypertension and diabetes increase vascular albumin permeation in rats preferentially in tissues that correspond to sites of clinically significant vascular disease in human diabetics. They also attest to an important interaction between blood pressure-induced and diabetes-induced increases in vascular permeability in these tissues and in structural changes in the glomerular vasculature.