In our work we searched for an association between the C-1214G and G-888C polymorphisms of the SDH gene promoter and the occurrence and progression of type 2 DR. Two hundred and fifteen unrelated individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were divided into three groups: without DR, with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).
In this paper, we propose a novel hypothesis that polymorphisms of SDH gene may be correlated with SDH gene expression levels in diabetic retinas, thus being a valuable genetic marker for diabetic retinopathy.