Sulfonylurea receptor gene 16-3 polymorphism - association with sulfonylurea or insulin treatment in type 2 diabetic subjects.

Abstract

The presence of a complex phenotype of type 2 diabetes results from impaired insulin secretion and action, whereas the mechanism of action of sulfonylurea derivatives, most commonly used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, is based on their ability to directly inhibit the ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP), which leads to b-cell depolarization, subsequent influx of calcium and then insulin exocytosis. It has recently been demonstrated in healthy subjects that molecular variants of the gene encoding for the KATP subunit - sulfonylurea receptor gene (SUR1) are associated with a decreased response of insulin secretion to intravenous injection of tolbutamide, a sulfonylurea derivative. In this study we tested whether a molecular variant of the SUR1 gene, 16-3t, has a different distribution in type 2 diabetic patients with early failure of sulfonylurea therapy, compared to patients treatable with sulfonylurea despite long diabetes duration.