title: VEGF genetic polymorphisms may contribute to the risk of diabetic nephropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This meta-analysis aimed to investigate a comprehensive and reliable conclusion on the correlations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene with the risk of diabetic nephropathy (DN) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).
  
  
  METHODS
  We screened PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CISCOM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, CBM, and CNKI databases for those relevant studies that investigated the association of 14,945 subjects with clinicopathological parameters in gastric cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven case-control studies that met all inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis. A total of 14,945 subjects were involved, including 3,049 DN patients and 11,896 DM patients. Our meta-analysis results revealed that VEGF rs2010963 and rs3025039 polymorphisms might contribute to the risk of DN in DM patients. Ethnicity-stratified analysis suggested that VEGF genetic polymorphisms were associated with an increased risk of DN among Asians. However, we found no correlations of VEGF genetic polymorphisms with susceptibility to DN among Caucasians.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that VEGF rs2010963 and rs3025039 polymorphisms may contribute to the risk of DN in DM patients, especially among Asians. Thus, VEGF genetic polymorphisms could be useful biomarkers for early diagnosis of DN in DM patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Purification, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Shenyang 110015, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The Fourth People's Hospital of Shenyang, Shenyang 110034, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Fei
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
authors.forename: Li-Ning
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A