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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Aged, Aldehyde Reductase, Alleles, Diabetic Retinopathy, Dinucleotide Repeats, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Middle Aged.
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Is length rather than a specific allele of dinucleotide repeat in the 5 ' upstream region of the aldose reductase gene associated with diabetic retinopathy? Context: To assess the possible contribution of a genetic factor to diabetic retinopathy. (CA)n repeat length was investigated in the 5' upstream region of the gene coding for aldose reductase (AR), which is a key enzyme of the polyol pathway and plays a role in hyperglycaemia-induced tissue damage, in Japanese patients with Type 2 DM. The dinucleotide repeat length was significantly associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (P= 0.029, Mann-Whitney U-test); i.e. shorter alleles were more prevalent in the PDR group than in the control group.
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(CA)n repeat length, rather than a specific allele, in the 5' upstream region of the AR gene is associated with diabetic retinopathy. These data suggest that the AR locus plays a role in genetic susceptibility to diabetic retinopathy and that dinucleotide repeats in genomic DNA may be related to disease predisposition. Final Decision: yes