title: Clinical association of circulating VEGF-B levels with hyperlipidemia and target organ damage in type 2 diabetic patients.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor-B (VEGF-B is an important member of the VEGF protein family. Recent animal studies indicated that VEGF-B signaling had determinant roles in insulin resistance, lipid distribution and metabolism in type 2 diabetes. The clinical significance of VEGF-B in type 2 diabetes is still not clear. This study aimed to correlate VEGF-B levels with biochemistry characteristics and target organ damage in type 2 diabetic patients. Serum VEGF-B levels were measured using ELISA. A crosssectional control study, which included 180 type 2 diabetic patients and 62 healthy subjects, was carried out. Diabetic patients who were undergoing insulin therapy were not included. This results showed that serum VEGF-B levels did not differ between the type 2 diabetic patients and the healthy controls (169.2&#x2213;118.8 vs 163.5&#x2213;115.2 pg/mL; P=0.734). VEGF-B levels in type 2 diabetic patients were significantly associated with the levels of c-peptide, total cholesterol and triglyceride. T-test analysis showed that the associations of serum VEGF-B levels with insulin resistance, pancreatic reserve, HDL and LDL were not significant. Regression analysis showed that VEGF-B levels were significantly correlated with diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy. No significant association between VEGF-B and macro-vasculopathy was found. In conclusion, our study findings suggested that VEGF-B levels did not differ between the type 2 diabetic patients and the normal controls. High VEGF-B levels might correlate with the presence of hyperlipidemia and target organ damage in type 2 diabetic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D042561:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; C467485:VEGFB protein, human; D042561:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor B; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol