Genetic variation in TCF7L2 rs7903146 correlating with peripheral arterial disease in long-standing type 2 diabetes

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (TCF7L2) rs7903146 polymorphism and peripheral arterial disease in type 2 diabetes.

In total, 1818 Korean type 2 diabetes patients were enrolled from January 2013 to December 2017. Subjects were categorized into two groups according to their duration of type 2 diabetes: long (⩾10 years, n = 771) and short (<10 years, n = 1047) durations. A multivariate logistic regression model was used for assuming an additive effect on peripheral arterial disease for the presence of a variant allele in TCF7L2 rs7903146.

The frequency of the minor T-allele was 7.6% (n = 139), and this allele was significantly associated with a 2.6-fold higher risk of peripheral arterial disease (odds ratio = 2.595, 95% confidence interval = 1.177–5.722, p = 0.018) in patients exhibiting a long duration of type 2 diabetes (⩾10 years). This result was significant after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, familial history of diabetes, smoking, duration of diabetes and laboratory measurements, which included glycated haemoglobin, fasting plasma glucose and lipid profiles. In patients with diabetes < 10 years, there was no significant association between TCF7L2 rs7903146 and peripheral arterial disease (odds ratio = 1.233, 95% confidence interval = 0.492–3.093, p = 0.655).

Our results provide evidence that genetic variation in TCF7L2 rs7903146 could increase risk for peripheral arterial disease in patients exhibiting long-standing type 2 diabetes.