Abstract
Results from the published studies on the association between monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) −2518 A/G gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy (DN) risk are still conflicting. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and DN risk and to explore whether MCP-1 A allele, AA genotype or GG genotype could become a predictive marker for DN risk. Association studies were identified from the databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and CBM-disc (China Biological Medicine Database) as of 1 March 2014, and eligible investigations were synthesized using meta-analysis method. Four studies were identified for the analysis of association between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and DN risk, and all the included studies were form Asian population. The association between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and DN susceptibility was not found (A allele: OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 0.97–1.45; p = 0.10; AA genotype: OR = 1.27; 95% CI: 0.95–1.70; p = 0.11; GG genotype: OR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.57–1.05; p = 0.10). In the sensitive analysis, according to the control source from hospital, we found that AA genotype was associated with the DN risk (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.05–2.00; p = 0.02). However, other associations were not found in the sensitive analysis according to the control source from hospital or population. Our results indicate that AA homozygous might be a significant genetic molecular marker to predict the diabetes mellitus patients developing into DN. However, more investigations are required to further clarify this association.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare no competing interests. This study was supported by the sub-item of 985 Project Foundation of Sun Yat-Sen (The Hundred Talents Program Foundation; No. 88000-3311300) and by Guangzhou medical key subject construction project.