Abstract:

Objective     To explore the association of serum vaspin with serum glucose, serum lipid, insulin resistance, and the presence of carotid plaque in early stage of type 2 d-iabetes. Methods     Sixty-nine type 2 diabetic patients with less than  1 year diabetes duration were divided into two groups by the presence or absence of carotid plaque. Twenty-six age-matched healthy controls were recruited as well. Serum vaspin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results     After- age and gender were adjusted, the fasting serum vaspin levels were significantly higher in the diabetic patients without carotid plaque than the controls［(0.66±0.22)ng/mL vs (0.46±0.12)ng/mL，P<0.01］. However, the circulating vaspin level was much lower in the diabetic subjects with carotid plaque than those without ［(0.52±0.22)ng/mL vs (0.66±0.22)ng/mL，P<0.05］. Partial correlations demonstrated that the vaspin level was negatively correlated with HOMA-IR(r=-0.276，P=0.025) in all subjects. Logistic regression analysis showed that SBP and the fasting serum vaspin levels were significantly associated with the presence of carotid plaque in type 2 diabetes.  Conclusion     Serum vaspin is significantly elevated in type 2 diabetic patients and its level is negatively associated with the presence of carotid plaque, indicating that vaspin might play a com-pensative role in the early course of diabetes while exerting protective effects on atherosclerosis in the early stage of diabetes.

Key words: Type 2 diabetes; Vaspin; Macrovascular complications; Carotid atherosclerosis