ABSTRACT: AIMS/INTRODUCTION:Variants on chromosome 1p13 have been associated with coronary artery disease and acute myocardial infarction risk in different ethnic groups. The present study aimed to investigate the association between 1p13 polymorphisms and the development of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a Chinese population with type 2 diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS:1p13 polymorphisms, rs599839, rs646776 and rs12740374, were assessed in a cohort of 882 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients including 440 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with PAD (DM + PAD group) and 442 patients without PAD (DM group). Genotyping was carried out using TaqMan assay. RESULTS:Compared with the DM group, the frequencies of the minor G allele of both rs599839 and rs646776 and the minor T allele of rs12740374 decreased (P = 0.013, P = 0.019 and P = 0.005, respectively), and the frequencies of rs599839 AG + GG, rs646776 AG + GG and rs12740374 CT+TT genotypes were statistically significantly decreased as well (P = 0.017, P = 0.011 and P = 0.007, respectively) in the dominant model in the DM + PAD group than in the DM group. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, glycated hemoglobin, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, diabetes duration, coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction showed that the genotypic distribution of rs599839 AG + GG, rs646776 AG + GG and rs12740374 CT + TT remained statistically different between the DM and DM + PAD group (P = 0.014, P = 0.003 and P = 0.004, respectively). The frequencies of haplotype GGT were statistically significantly different between groups (P = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS:The present study strongly supports that genotypes of rs599839, rs646776 and rs12740374 on 1p13 are protective factors for diabetic PAD in a Chinese population. Haplotype GGT generated by rs599839, rs646776 and rs12740374 might also decrease the risk of the disease.