Association of soluble CD40 ligand with carotid atherosclerosis in Japanese type 1 diabetic patients.
OBJECTIVE
It has recently been shown that the soluble form of CD40 ligand (sCD40L) interacts with CD40 on vascular cells, leading to a variety of proinflammatory responses, and that serum sCD40L levels can be a predictive marker of cardiovascular events. The aim of this study was to estimate sCD40L levels in type 1 diabetic patients to examine a possible association with carotid atherosclerosis.


METHODS
Human sCD40L levels in serum and intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid artery were examined in 80 Japanese type 1 diabetic patients (27 men and 53 women, age 22.8+/-3.4 years (mean+/-SD), duration of diabetes 13.2+/-6.1 years) and 20 healthy age-matched non-diabetic individuals.


RESULTS
Serum sCD40L levels were significantly (p=0.0185) higher in subjects with type 1 diabetes (2.10+/-1.33 ng/ml) compared with non-diabetic subjects (1.35+/-0.88 ng/ml). The greatest IMT (Max-IMT) and averaged IMT (Mean-IMT) were also significantly greater in patients with type 1 diabetes than in control subjects (0.73+/-0.14 vs 0.64+/-0.07 mm, p=0.0041, 0.63+/-0.09 vs 0.57+/-0.06 mm, p=0.0066, respectively). Levels of sCD40L were statistically significantly associated with Max-IMT (r=0.383, p<0.001) and Mean-IMT (r=0.275, p=0.0058). Furthermore, stepwise multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that sCD40L is a determinant of both Max- and Mean-IMT, independently of conventional risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
It is suggested that increased levels of serum sCD40L are associated with accelerated atherosclerotic change observed in young patients with type 1 diabetes.
Katakami
N
N
Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics (A8), Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. katakami@medone.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Kaneto
H
H
Matsuhisa
M
M
Miyatsuka
T
T
Sakamoto
K
K
Kawamori
D
D
Yoshiuchi
K
K
Nakamura
Y
Y
Kato
K
K
Yamamoto
K
K
Kosugi
K
K
Hori
M
M
Yamasaki
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D023201:CD40 Ligand / Q000097:blood*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000033:anatomy & histology
D023201:CD40 Ligand