title: Risk factors for cataract in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: evidence for the influence of the aldose reductase gene.
abstract: There is evidence that the development of retinopathy in type 2 diabetes is associated with a microsatellite polymorphism at 5' of the aldose reductase gene. The study examined whether cataract was associated with clinical/metabolic factors and/or the microsatellite polymorphism using a cohort of consecutively recruited Hong Kong Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (n=567). Amongst these patients, 157 (28%) had cataract. The patients with cataract were older in age and age at diagnosis and had longer diabetes duration than those without cataract (all at p<0.01). They also had higher systolic blood pressure (p<0.01), HbA1c (p<0.05) and fasting plasma glucose levels (p<0.01; all with adjustment for the significance). Moreover, we found that the patients with cataract over-presented the microsatellite allele Z (23 vs. 30%, p<0.01) and its genotypes (Z,Z+Z,non-Z; 38 vs. 50%, p<0.01), but under-presented the allele Z-4 (8.3 vs 4.8%, p<0.05) and its genotypes (Z-4, Z-4+Z-4,non-Z-4; 16 vs. 10%, p<0.05). Using multiple logistic regression analysis (R2=0.25, p<0.01), we found that the presence of cataract was correlated positively with age, but inversely with the presence of allele Z-4. In conclusion, our data indicate that the occurrence of cataract is common in the Chinese type 2 diabetes population, with age and the aldose reductase gene as important determinants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China. shaochin@ctimail.com
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Critchley
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cockram
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000449:Aldehyde Reductase / Q000235:genetics; D000483:Alleles; D002386:Cataract / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000449:Aldehyde Reductase