STAT4 polymorphisms and diabetes risk: a meta-analysis with 18931 patients and 23833 controls

Some studies were conducted to investigate the association between signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) polymorphisms and diabetes risk. However, the results were inconsistent. We thus did a meta-analysis. We searched the articles in the PubMed, Embase and CNKI databases (the last search updated on November 2014). Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived from random-effects models or fixed-effects models. Ten case-control studies with 18931 cases and 23833 controls were included in this study. STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism was significantly associated with diabetes risk (OR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.16-1.42; P < 0.00001). This polymorphism also increased type 1 diabetes risk significantly (OR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.15-1.41; P < 0.00001). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, a significant association was found among Asians (OR = 1.33; 95% CI 1.04-1.71; P = 0.02) and Caucasians (OR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.12-1.38; P < 0.0001). In the subgroup analysis by age, both children (OR = 1.28; 95% CI 1.12-1.45; P = 0.0002) and adults (OR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.13-1.42; P < 0.0001) with this polymorphism showed increased diabetes risk. Other STAT4 polymorphisms were not investigated in this meta-analysis due to insufficient data. This meta-analysis indicated that STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism was associated with diabetes risk.