Association between PPAR-γ2 gene polymorphisms and diabetic retinopathy risk: a meta-analysis

A close association between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma 2 (PPAR-gamma 2) and the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) has been previously suggested. Herein, a meta-analysis was conducted to explore the association between PPAR-gamma 2 polymorphisms and DR risk by performing a systematic search and quantitative analysis. Overall, fourteen articles involving 10,527 subjects were included. The pooled results did not reveal an association between PPAR-gamma 2 rs1801282 C/G and DR susceptibility in the overall population (e.g., the dominant model: CG+GG vs. CC, OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.69-1.06, P=0.15, I-2=62.9%). Furthermore, heterogeneity tests, cumulative analyses, sensitivity analyses, and publication bias analyses were conducted and showed that the results were robust. Similarly, race-based subgroup analyses and other subgroup analyses did not reveal an association between the rs1801282 C/G and DR susceptibility. In addition, no significant association was observed between PPAR-gamma 2 rs3856806 C/T polymorphism and DR risk (e.g., the dominant model: CT+TT vs. CC, OR=1.12, 95%CI=0.91-1.37, P=0.28, I-2=27.0%). Overall, based on the current sample size and the level of evidence presented in the study, the results suggest that PPAR-gamma 2 gene polymorphisms are not associated with DR risk.

Automated summary

The meta-analysis on the association between PPAR-gamma 2 gene polymorphisms and diabetic retinopathy risk did not find a significant relationship between the two factors. Subgroup analyses also failed to reveal any significant associations.