Inflammatory Biomarkers Levels in T2DM Emirati Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy

Bashair M Mussa; Ankita Srivastava; Abeer Al-Habshi; Abdul Khader Mohammed; Rabih Halwani; Salah Abusnana

doi:10.2147/DMSO.S319863

Inflammatory Biomarkers Levels in T2DM Emirati Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2021 Jul 26:14:3389-3397. doi: 10.2147/DMSO.S319863. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Bashair M Mussa¹, Ankita Srivastava², Abeer Al-Habshi², Abdul Khader Mohammed², Rabih Halwani^{2

3}, Salah Abusnana^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Basic Medical Science Department, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
² Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
³ Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Diabetes and Endocrinology Department, University Hospital Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have suggested the involvement of chronic low-grade inflammation in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy (DNP). However, none of these studies have examined the levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with confirmed diagnosis of neuropathy. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the levels of MCP-1 along with IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β in patients with T2DM and confirmed neuropathy and identify correlations, if any, between MCP-1 and other parameters.

Methods: A single center cross-sectional clinical study was conducted at University Hospital Sharjah (UHS) and University of Sharjah. One hundred and two patients with T2DM were recruited from diabetes clinics at UHS and were stratified into different groups based on diagnosis of DNP and other parameters. Several analyses were conducted to evaluate and compare the levels of MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8, and TGF-β across these groups of patients and identify correlations, if any, between MCP-1 and other variables.

Results: A significant increase was found in the levels of MCP-1 in T2DM patients with DNP compared to the patients without DNP (p=0.002, p-adj=0.007). Further analysis has shown that levels of IL-8 (p=0.008) and TGF-β (p=0.06) were increased and decreased, respectively, in patients with DNP compared to patients without DNP. Moreover, strong correlations were found between MCP-1, IL-8 and TGF-β levels.

Conclusion: The key finding of the present study is the significant elevation in levels of MCP-1 in T2DM patients with DNP compared to the patients without DNP and IL-8 and TGF-β were strong predictors of MCP-1 increased levels.

Keywords: Emirati population; MCP-1; diabetic neuropathy; inflammatory biomarkers; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Collaborative Grant (NO. 1701090120-P) from University of Sharjah, and Al Jalila Foundation (AJF2018082) to Bashair M. Mussa.