Limitation on detecting common gene mutations of mitochondrial DNA in type 2 diabetes with PCR

Objective: To study the association of common gene mutations of mitochondrial DNA（mtDNA） in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus（DM2）. Methods: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism（PCR-RFLP） and Polymerase chain reaction-temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis（PCR-TTGE） were carried out to screen the fragment deletion of mtDNA 4977 and the mutations of tRNA ^Leu（UUR）A 3243G and mtDNA T14577C. Results: Fragment deletion of mtDNA 4977,mutations of tRNA ^Leu（UUR）A3243G and mtDNA T14577C were not found neither in DM2 nor healthy controls. Conclusion: There is a limitation on detecting common gene mutations of mitochondrial DNA in type 2 diabetes by PCR for the heterogenicity of mtDNA in the blood samples.