TGF-β1 and IGF-I gene variations in type 1 diabetes microangiopathic complications

Background Growth factors are generally believed to have a perpetuating role in the development of diabetic complications, However there is ample of evidence of a protective or therapeutic potential for some of them. IGF-I, according to some reports, may contribute to complication development, although a protective role for IGF-I has been claimed for all late diabetic complications, making it an exception among growth factors. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 as a pleiotropic cytokine is a key player in immunoregulation. Dysregulation of TGF-β1 in diabetes has been addressed as a leading event of kidney pathologies, while there is no similar pivotal role for TGF-β1 in diabetic retinopathy or neuropathy. An association study was conducted to evaluate the distinctive roles of TGF-β1 and IGF-I in T1DM microvascular complications by gene variation-based regulatory mechanisms that are operational in modulation of both in situ and systemic levels of the gene product.