Study of the Association of AGTR1 and ACACB Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility of Diabetic Nephropathy in North Indian Type 2 Diabetic Patients

India is the "Diabetes Capital of the World" with 41 million Indians having diabetes, with every fifth diabetic in the world being an Indian and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) constitutes the major chunk of diabetes. One of the most severe complications of diabetes is the development of diabetic nephropathy. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) worldwide. There are many identifiable risk factors of diabetic nephropathy like hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and proteinuria, the genetic factor is the main among all. Long-term observational studies show that nearly 30-35% of type 2 diabetic patients develop nephropathy, irrespective of glycemic control. The regional variation in diabetes prevalence and in the proclivity for diabetes induced renal disease; along with reports of familial clustering of nephropathy suggest a possible genetic basis. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of progressive renal diseases. In addition, the blockage of angiotensin II with either ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin type-I receptor antagonist has been found to prevent or delay the progression of renal injury associated with diabetes 5 and now these drugs are first-choice drugs for the treatment of diabetic subjects with hypertension. The genes encoding the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1), have been reported to be the most probable candidate genes for diabetic nephropathy. As there is no data available for AGTR1 polymorphism and DN in the north Indian T2DM, its out attempt to fill the scientific gap.