There appears to be certain genes which predispose Indians to diabetes while other genes (for example Pro 12 Ala polymorphism of PPAR gamma gene) which afford protection against diabetes and insulin resistance to Caucasians, do not appear to protect Indians.
There was no convincing association between any polymorphism of PPARα and PPARγ and each individual component of the metabolic syndrome, except for the relationship of the P12A polymorphism with diabetes.
There were significant associations of the Pro12Ala single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes with diabetes in both case-control comparisons (P=0.025 and P=0.039).
These results suggest that the Pro12Ala mutation in PPARgamma is not associated with either diabetes or obesity and may not be an important determinant of obesity or diabetes in Korean subjects.
We tested the effect-modifying role of Pro12Ala on the 1 year change in obesity-related traits in a randomised clinical trial of treatment with metformin (n = 989), troglitazone (n = 363) or lifestyle modification (n = 1,004) vs placebo (n = 1,000) for diabetes prevention in high-risk individuals.
When these 6 traits were included in a multivariate analysis, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, triglyceride levels, and glucose concentration remained significantly associated with the P12A variant (P < 0.05), whereas the effect of P12A on liability for diabetes was not significant.