Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the plasma apelin levels in diabetic patients with and without neuropathy. All consecutive diabetic patients who presented for routine follow-up at our outpatient clinic were invited to participate in this clinical study. Forty diabetic patients (20 female and 20 male) and twenty-two non-diabetic control subjects (9 female and 13 male) were included in the study. Neurological evaluations in diabetic subjects were done by nerve conduction studies and evaluated with the Neuropathy Symptom Score. Fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, lipid and apelin levels were measured in each subject. The mean plasma apelin level was significantly higher in the diabetic patients than in the control subjects (p = 0.026). Apelin levels were statistically similar between diabetic patients with and without neuropathy (p = 0.43). Further, plasma apelin levels were found to be higher in diabetic patients with neuropathy when compared with those of healthy control subjects (p = 0.02). In diabetic patients with neuropathy, plasma apelin levels correlated significantly with diabetes duration (r = 0.5, p = 0.02). We propose that apelin levels in diabetic patients are higher in the presence of neuropathy and longer disease duration, although this might not solely suffice as an indicator for the presence of neuropathy in diabetic patients. Drawing attention to the possible association between the apelinergic system and diabetes mellitus, we believe that further studies with larger samples should be carried out also to investigate the presence of retinopathy and nephropathy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lee D.K., George S.R., O’Dowd B.F., Unravelling the roles of the apelin system: prospective therapeutic applications in heart failure and obesity, Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 2006, 27, 190–194
Kleinz M.J., Davenport A.P., Emerging roles of apelin in biology and medicine, Pharmacol. Ther., 2005, 107, 198–211
Erdem G., Dogru T., Tasci I., Sonmez A., Tapan S., Low plasma apelin levels in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, Exp. Clin. Endocrinol. Diabetes., 2008, 116, 289–292
Matthews D.R., Hosker J.P., Turner R.C., Homeostasis Model Assesment: Insulin resistance and β-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man, Diabetologia, 1985, 28, 412–419
Dyck P.J., Detection, characterization and staging of polyneuropathy: assessed in diabetics, Muscle. Nerve., 1998, 11, 21–32
Bełtowski J., Apelin and visfatin: Unique “beneficial” adipokines upregulated in obesity? Med. Sci. Monit., 2006, 12, 112–119
Ladeiras-Lopes R., Ferreira-Martins J., Leite-Moreira A.F., The Apelinergic System: The Role Played in Human Physiology and Pathology and Potential Therapeutic Applications. Arq. Bras. Cardiol., 2008, 90, 343–349
Boucher J., Masri B., Daviaud D., Gesta S., Guignö C., Mazzucotelli A., et al., Apelin, a newly identified adipokine up-regulated by insulin and obesity, Endocrinology, 2005, 146, 1764–1771
Li L., Yang G., Li Q., Tang Y., Yang M., Yang H., Li K., Changes and relations of circulating visfatin, apelin, and resistin levels in normal, impaired glucose tolerance, and type 2 diabetic subjects, Exp. Clin. Endocrinol. Diabetes., 2006, 114, 544–548
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Şenol, M.G., Terekeci, H.M., İpçioğlu, O. et al. Plasma apelin levels in diabetic patients with and without neuropathy. cent.eur.j.med 4, 241–244 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11536-008-0075-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11536-008-0075-1