Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms within genes encoding sirtuin families and diabetic nephropathy in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Sirtuin is a member of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent deacetylases, and has been reported to play a pivotal role in energy expenditure, mitochondrial function and pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, including aging kidneys. In this study, we focused on the genes encoding sirtuin families, and examined the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within genes encoding sirtuin families and diabetic nephropathy.

Methods: We examined 52 SNPs within the SIRT genes (11 in SIRT1, 7 in SIRT2, 14 in SIRT3, 7 in SIRT4, 9 in SIRT5, and 4 in SIRT6) in 3 independent Japanese populations with type 2 diabetes (study 1: 747 cases (overt proteinuria), 557 controls; study 2: 455 cases (overt proteinuria) and 965 controls; study 3: 300 cases (end-stage renal disease) and 218 controls). The associations between these SNPs were analyzed by the Cochran-Armitage trend test, and results of the 3 studies were combined with a meta-analysis. We further examined an independent cohort (195 proteinuria cases and 264 controls) for validation of the original association.

Results: We identified 4 SNPs in SIRT1 that were nominally associated with diabetic nephropathy (P < 0.05), and subsequent haplotype analysis revealed that a haplotype consisting of the 11 SNPs within SIRT1 locus had a stronger association (P = 0.0028).

Conclusion: These results indicate that SIRT1 may play a role in susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes.