The type 2 diabetes and insulin-resistance locus near IRS1 is a determinant of HDL cholesterol and triglycerides levels among diabetic subjects.

Objective: SNP rs2943641 near the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) gene has been found to be associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and insulin-resistance in genome-wide association studies. We investigated whether this SNP is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and coronary artery disease (CAD) among diabetic individuals.
Methods: SNP rs2943641 was typed in 2133 White T2D subjects and tested for association with BMI, serum HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, hypertension history, and CAD risk.
Results: HDL cholesterol decreased by 1mg/dl (p = 0.004) and serum triglycerides increased by 6 mg/dl (p = 0.016) for each copy of the insulin-resistance allele. Despite these effects, no association was found with increased CAD risk (OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.88-1.13).
Conclusions: The insulin-resistance and T2D locus near the IRS1 gene is a determinant of lower HDL cholesterol among T2D subjects. However, this effect is small and does not translate into a detectable increase in CAD risk in this population.
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