Background: It has been thought that neurotrophins have metabotrophic effects and take part in the carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The aim of the present study is to examine the levels of neurotrophins in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and whether the levels are linked to the components of metabolic syndrome.
Methods: 90 patients and 35 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, and neurotrophin-3 were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Plasma glucose, insulin, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and body mass index were measured, and, for each subject, the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was calculated as the index of metabolic syndrome.
Results: The serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 levels were higher, nerve growth factor lower in the T2DM patients than those of healthy controls (p < 0.001, p < 0. 001, and p < 0.001, respectively). The neurotrophic factor levels did not display any difference with respect to gender. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor was correlated with neurotrophin-3 level in female T2DM patients. In the male patients, brain-derived neurotrophic factor was correlated positively with plasma insulin and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; neurotrophin-3 was correlated positively with both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, and nerve growth factor was correlated negatively with plasma glucose.
Conclusions: We thought that the changes in the serum neurotrophic factor levels were associated with metabolic syndrome components in T2DM.