Abstract:Objective To compare the expression level of Fos-like antigen 2 (FOSL2) protein in Uygur people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) in Xinjiang, and analyze the correlation between FOSL2 expression and clinical and biochemical indicators of those subjects. Methods Fifty Uygur adults with T2DM (T2DM group) and fifty with NGT (NGT group) were collected as subjects from October 2013 to October 2014 in Kashi area of Xinjiang. The general clinical indicators were measured and recorded, blood samples were collected at the same time. The metabolic markers such as fasting blood glucose (FPG) and total cholesterol (TC) were measured by clinical chemistry analyzer. The level of fasting insulin (FINS) was measured by automatic chemiluminescence analyzer. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The expression level of FOSL2 protein was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Data was analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results Compared with the NGT group, BMI [(25.02 ± 3.19) vs (28.36 ± 4.01), P = 0.000], FPG [(5.45 ± 0.69) vs (11.4 ± 4.39), P = 0.000], HbA1c [(6.21 ± 1.30) vs (10.20 ± 2.10), P = 0.000], TC [(3.80 ± 0.87) vs (5.16 ± 0.87), P = 0.000], TG [(1.48 ± 0.85) vs (2.21 ± 1.02), P = 0.000] and LDL-C [(2.26 ± 0.83) vs (2.63 ± 0.74), P = 0.018] increased; however, HDL-C [(1.19 ± 0.30) vs (1.03 ± 0.34), P = 0.011] and the expression level of FOSL2 protein [(41.48 ± 26.32) vs (18.09 ± 9.48), P = 0.000] decreased in the T2DM group. Compared with the NGT group, FINS [(11.61 ± 0.94) vs (16.13 ± 1.61), P = 0.017], HOMA-IR [(2.74 ± 0.22) vs (7.81 ± 0.75), P = 0.000] increased in the T2DM group. BMI (r = -0.44, P = 0.005), FPG (r = -0.39, P = 0.013), HbAlc (r = -0.34, P = 0.044) and TC (r = -0.35, P = 0.027) were negatively correlated with the serum level of FOSL2 protein in the Uygur patients with T2DM in Xinjiang. BMI (β = -2.17, P = 0.032) was involved in the regression equation which showed that BMI influenced the expression level of FOSL2 protein. Conclusions The lowered expression level of FOSL2 protein may be involved in the occurrence and progression of insulin resistance and T2DM in Uygur in Xinjiang. BMI is an important factor influencing the expression of FOSL2 protein in T2DM patients of Uygur.