L Saremi - Science and Research Branch Islamic AzadUniversity, Tehran, Iran

Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for Cardiovascular disease which is the major cause of death in type 2 diabetes. The frequency of HFE gene mutations could be elevated among type 2 diabetes patients and as a result, among CAD cases. The purpose of this study is to assess whether C282Y and H63Dmutations in the HFE gene might be associated with increased risk of CAD in type 2 diabetic patients in the Iranian population. There have been enrolled 290 unrelated individuals, divided into case and control groups. The genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral venous blood and the genotypingof HFE gene mutations has been made using the PCR–RFLP technique. Statistical analysis were performed using SPSS 12.0 software. The data analysis revealed a significant difference between the allele frequencies of H63D and C282Y mutations among cases and controls. This genotype distributionsuggests a significant association between HFE mutations and CAD status. In conclusion our findingsprovide evidence of an association between C282Y and H63D mutations and development of CAD in diabetic patients, thus indicating that HFE mutations are genetic markers of coronary risk in the Iranian population

Type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, HFE gene, H63D and C282Y mutations