Background: A member of pattern recognition receptors is
the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4). It is a highly conserved
receptor that can identify compounds like damage- and
pathogen-associated molecular patterns. As inflammation is
considered to have a very important role in Type 2 diabetes
(T2D) and toll-like receptors play a central role in
inflammation through immune responses, TLR-4 has a
universal role in the T2D mechanism. Excessive amounts of
glucose and free fatty acids lead to enlarged expression of
TLR-4 mRNA and proteins in cases with T2D. Aim of the
study: Is to determine the role of TLR-4 gene
polymorphism (rs4986791), threonine 399 isoleucine
(Thr399Ile) in the pathogenesis of T2D and diabetic
nephropathy (DN) Egyptian patients. Subjects and
methods: Sixty patients with T2D, thirty of them with DN
and thirty without DN and twenty healthy controls had been
genotyped for Thr399Ile polymorphisms of the TLR-4 gene
by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Toll-like receptor 4
polymorphism CT and TT genotypes and T allele found the
relationship to T2D (P1). But there had been no significant
relationship regarding TLR-4 gene polymorphism among
patients with and without nephropathy (P=.674 and .296)
for CT and TT genotypes. Conclusion: This study
elucidated that the distinguished distribution of genotypes
CT and TT of TLR-4 gene polymorphism (rs4986791)
among T2D patients and healthy subjects is allied with an
increased risk of T2D. But there had been no significant
relationship with diabetic nephropathy in Egyptian populations.