Association between the HHEX gene (RS1111875 and RS7923837) polymorphism and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Iraqi patients

This study was conducted at the Hereditary Research Laboratories of Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, between 01.03-31.12.2022. The present medical study aims to investigate the association between RS1111875 and RS7923837 polymorphisms in the HHEX gene in Iraqi type 2 DM patients. The total number of patients was 120, including 80 patients suffering from T2 DM and 40 apparently healthy samples. The age range of these individuals was 25-75 years. Significant changes were seen in high FBS and HbA1C levels, while no significant difference was seen in BMI. The findings revealed that the percentage of T2 DM cases was highest in the second age group, reaching 55% of the total patients, and lowest in the first age group with 11.25%. The occurrence of DM was associated with family history and the effects of smoking. Among the biochemical parameters, cholesterol, triglycerides and VLDL were found to be significantly higher in patients, whereas serum HDL and LDL were not significantly different in the control group compared to the patient group. Targeted fragments of the HHEX gene were amplified by PCR, and it was concluded that there was no association between the G/A (RS7932837) SNP and T2 DM, while there was an association between the C/T (RS1111875) SNP and T2 DM