Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness among working adults worldwide. Chronic extra cellular hyperglycemia in diabetes stimulates reaction oxygen species (ROS) production and increase oxidative stress. Glutathion S- transferases (GSTs) enzymes have been shown to protect human from reactive oxygen compounds damage. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the genetic polymorphism of GSTP1 is associated with DR.

Materials and Methods: This case–control study, included 70 patients with DR and 70 healthy volunteers. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Statistical analysis was performed using the MedCalc program for Windows version 12.

Results: The prevalence of genotype frequencies of the GSTP1 Ile/Ile and Ile/Val were 71.42% and 28.57% respectively, in DR subject, whiles in healthy volunteers were 78.58% and 21.42%, respectively. Statistical analysis has not emerged significant difference from the comparison of either genotype (&Rho>0.05).

Conclusion: There was no evidence that GSTP1 variants were associated with DR in studied population. Further research is required to clarify role of GSTP1 in DR.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and causes blindness among adults. Chronic extra cellular hyperglycemia in diabetes stimulates reaction oxygen species ROS production and increases oxidative stress. GPX-1 that was coded by GPX-1 gene is a key enzyme in protecting vessels against oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of GPX-1 gene Pro 198 Leu polymorphism in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 160 blood samples of participants including 80 patients with diabetic retinopathy and 80 healthy individual were tested. Genotyping of GPX-1 gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) by ApaI enzyme. Data analysis was performed using MedCalc (12.1) program.

Results: The genotype frequencies of the GPX-1 in DR patients for Leu/Leu, Leu/Pro, Pro/Pro were 10%, 62.5% and 27.5%, respectively, while for the control groups were 10%, 70% and 20%, respectively.In ohter words, Ile/Pro heterozygote was the most frequent genotype in patients and controls. According to the results of this study, there was not significant difference between patients with diabetic retinopathy and controls(p=0.52).

Conclusion: It is concluded that GPX-1 gene Pro 198 Leu polymorphism is not associated with DR. Further research is required to clarify the role of GPX-1 gene in DR in Rasht population along higher sample size.