Background: Hypercoagulability and hypofibrinolysis are among the symptoms exhibited by diabetic patients. Our study aimed to address the polymorphic nature of Alu DNA fragment in the human tissue plasminogen activator gene within diabetes mellitus (DM) Jordanian patients.
Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from 76 DM patients and 60 non-diabetic Jordanian individuals, and the Alu fragment was amplified using PCR.
Results: The results showed that 80% of the non-diabetic Jordanian subjects were homozygotes for the deletion of the Alu fragment (Alu-/-), 16.7% were homozygotes for its insertion (Alu+/+), and 3.3% were heterozygotes (Alu+/-). Besides, 36.8% of the diabetic patients exhibited the Alu-/- or Alu+/- genotype, and 26.3% were Alu+/+. The Alu-/- genotype occurred less frequently in the diabetic individuals.
Conclusion: The high frequency of the Alu-/- genotype constitutes a protective deletion with respect to DM within the normal subjects.
Keywords: Alu; Diabetes mellitus; Polymorphism.