ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The aim of this study was to explore the association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the variants of uncoupling proteins (UCPs) genes in a Chinese population of type 2 diabetes, in total and in patients of different glycemic status separately. METHODS:This case-control study included a total of 3107 participants from two datasets, among which 662 were DR patients (21.31%). Eighteen tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of UCP1, UCP2, and UCP3 were selected as genetic markers. TaqMan probes, Sequenom MassARRAY MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry platform and Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array were used for genotyping. Online SHEsis software was used for association analysis. Bonferroni correction was used for multiple comparisons correction. RESULTS:Three SNPs of UCP1: rs7688743 (A allele, OR?=?1.192, p?=?0.013), rs3811787 (T allele, OR?=?0.863, p?=?0.023), and rs10011540 (G allele, OR?=?1.368, p?=?0.004) showed association with DR after the adjustment of glucose, but only rs10011540 was marginally significantly associated with DR when Bonferroni correction was strictly applied (padj?=?0.048). In patients with uncontrolled glucose, rs7688743 (A allele, p?=?0.012, OR?=?1.309), rs10011540 (G allele, p?=?0.033, OR?=?1.432), and rs3811787 (T allele, p?=?0.022, OR?=?0.811) were associated with DR, while in participants with well controlled glucose, the rs2734827 of UCP3 was associated with DR (A allele, p?=?0.017, OR?=?0.532). Rs3811787 of UCP1 showed a protective effect to sight threatening DR (T allele, p =?0.007, OR?=?0.490), and the association existed after the adjustment for environmental factors and the correction. In patients with uncontrolled glucose, the rs3811787 of UCP1 (T allele, p =?0.017, OR?=?0.467) and the rs591758 of UCP3 (C allele, p =?0.026, OR?=?0.103) were associated with STDR. While in those with well controlled glucose, only the rs7688743 of UCP1 showed a protective effect (A allele, p =?0.024, OR?=?0.049). None of the associations remain significant when Bonferroni correction was strictly applied (all p
