Associations of serum fetuin-A levels with insulin resistance and vascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes

• Published in: Diabetes & vascular disease research Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 459 - 467
• Main Authors: Jung, Chan-Hee, Kim, Bo-Yeon, Kim, Chul-Hee, Kang, Sung-Koo, Jung, Sang-Hee, Mok, Ji-Oh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2013
• Subjects: Adiponectin - blood; Adult; Aged; alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein - biosynthesis; Cholesterol - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - metabolism; Diabetic Angiopathies - metabolism; Fasting - metabolism; Female; Humans; Insulin Resistance - physiology; Male; Metabolic Syndrome - metabolism; Middle Aged; metabolic syndrome; type 2 diabetes mellitus; Fetuin-A; microangiopathies; insulin resistance
• ISSN: 1479-1641; 1752-8984
• DOI: 10.1177/1479164113490766

Objective: We examined the relationship between serum fetuin-A, insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome (MS) and vascular complications including cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total of 172 T2DM patients were recruited and evaluated for diabetic microangiopathies (nephropathy, retinopathy and peripheral neuropathy) including CAN. Serum fetuin-A levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the IR was assessed by the index of homeostasis model [homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)]. Atherosclerotic burden was assessed by ankle-brachial index (ABI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Results: Serum fetuin-A levels showed significant positive correlations with HOMA-IR (r = 0.196, p = 0.022), and the mean levels of HOMA-IR were significantly increased progressively across fetuin-A tertiles (p for trend = 0.044). Serum fetuin-A showed significant positive correlations with baPWV, systolic blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol, triglycerides, serum fasting c-peptide and negative correlations with ABI. Serum fetuin-A levels were also negatively correlated with serum adiponectin and positively correlated with serum tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The mean levels of serum fetuin-A were not significantly different according to the presence of each microangiopathies including CAN. Also, the mean levels of serum fetuin-A were not different between patients with MS and without MS. Conclusions: This present study showed that levels of serum fetuin-A are significantly associated with IR and arterial stiffness assessed by baPWV, while there are no associations with each microangiopathies in patients with T2DM.