Association analysis of urotensin II gene (UTS2) and flanking regions with biochemical parameters related to insulin resistance.

oleh: María E Sáez, Tarik Smani, Reposo Ramírez-Lorca, Ignacio Díaz, Manuel Serrano-Ríos, Agustín Ruiz, Antonio Ordoñez

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-04-01

Deskripsi

<h4>Background</h4>Urotensin II (UII) is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide, which signals through a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) known as GPR14 or urotensin receptor (UTR). UII exerts a broad spectrum of actions in several systems such as vascular cell, heart muscle or pancreas, where it inhibits insulin release.<h4>Objective</h4>Given the reported role of UII in insulin secretion, we have performed a genetic association analysis of the UTS2 gene and flanking regions with biochemical parameters related to insulin resistance (fasting glucose, glucose 2 hours after a glucose overload, fasting insulin and insulin resistance estimated as HOMA).<h4>Results and conclusions</h4>We have identified several polymorphisms associated with the analysed clinical traits, not only at the UTS2 gene, but also in thePER3 gene, located upstream from UTS2. Our results are compatible with a role for UII in glucose homeostasis and diabetes although we cannot rule out the possibility that PER3 gene may underlie the reported associations.