Factor V Leiden, MTHFR, and FXIIIVal34Leu gene polymorphisms and their association with clinical features and risk of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is expanding to epidemic levels globally due to the progressing prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, the association between factor V Leiden (FVL), MTHFRC677T, and FXIIIVal34Leu polymorphisms and diabetic retinopathy was investigated in Eastern Iran. Methods: This case-control study enlisted the participation of 300 people (diabetic patients=100, diabetic retinopathy patients=100, healthy controls=100), and polymorphisms were examined by Tetra primer ARMS-PCR. Results: The frequency of FVL (p=0.294) and FXIIIVal34Leu (P=0.349) polymorphism showed no significant results between the genotype frequency in the mentioned groups. In contrast, MTHFRC677T SNP was significantly different in diabetic patients and controls (P=0.008). The MTHFRC677T polymorphism was found to be connected with increased systolic blood pressure in patients who had the TT genotype (130.96±11.92mm/Hg; P=0.011). Conclusion: Our study recommended that the MTHFRC677T polymorphism may offer to DR development. Studies with larger sample sizes and a wider spectrum of populations are authorized to verify this finding.