Lack of association of PAX4 gene with type 1 diabetes in the Finnish and Hungarian populations

We aimed to assess the possible contribution of the PAX4 transcription factor gene to the genetic background of type 1 diabetes. We analyzed four coding polymorphisms of the PAX4 gene in 498 cases with type 1 diabetes and 825 control subjects from Finland and Hungary. All patients were diagnosed under the age of 15 years according to the World Health Organization criteria. All four PAX4 variants (three in exon 9 and one in exon 3) were genotyped using DNA sequencing. In addition, all Finnish subjects were typed for HLA DR-DQ, :insulin gene (-23) HphI, and CTLA4 CT60 polymorphisms. The +1,168 C/A coding variant of PAX4 was found to be polymorphic in both populations (P321H, rs712701). No difference was observed in the genotype frequencies between cases and control subjects, nor was any disease association detected when patients were stratified according to age at diagnosis, sex, HLA, insulin gene, or CTLA4 genotypes. Our data indicate that the +1,168 C/A variant of PAX4 gene does not play any essential role in genetic type 1 diabetes susceptibility. The strong coherence between the datasets of the two ethnic groups studied with highly contrasting disease incidence, socioeconomic characteristics, and profoundly diverse environment emphasizes the impact of this finding.