Association between Interleukin-1β Polymorphism at Rs16944 and Glucose Metabolism: A Cohort Study

This study explored the correlation between the interleukin-1β gene rs16944 polymorphism and diabetes through epidemiological and follow-up investigations.

The study was conducted on 600 subjects with normal glucose metabolism recruited from participants of the Risk Evaluation of cAncers in Chinese type 2 diabeTic Individuals: A lONgitudinal (REACTION) study in Luzhou, China in 2011. All subjects received a unified standardized questionnaire, physical examination, laboratory examination, and follow-up in 2016. Subjects were divided into normal glucose metabolism (NC), pre-diabetes (PDM), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) groups according to their glucose metabolism after follow-up. The IL-1β gene rs16944 polymorphism was analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism(PCR-RFLP) technique.

After follow-up, 386, 156, and 58 cases were observed in the NC, PDM, and T2DM groups, respectively. Serum IL-1β levels were compared to baselines at follow-up in the 3 groups; the difference in the T2DM group was statistically significant. The frequency distributions of the IL-1β gene rs16944 genotypes, i.e., CC, CT, and TT, were significantly different in the 3 groups, and the distributions in the T2DM and NC groups were significantly different. The frequency distributions of the C and T alleles of IL-1β rs16944 were not significantly different. Logistic regression analysis identified the CC+CT genotype as an independent risk factor for the development of diabetes in patients with normal glucose metabolism (OR = 2.457, 95% CI: 1.238-4.877).

The IL-1β gene rs16944 C/T polymorphism may cause genetic susceptibility to T2DM in the Luzhou population. The CC+CT genotypes may increase T2DM risk.