Aims: Improving the composition of circulating fatty acids (FA) leads to a reduction in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in high-risk individuals. The membrane fluidity of red blood cells (RBC), which reflects circulating FA status, may be a valid biomarker of cardiovascular (CV) risk in type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Methods: Red blood cell membrane fluidity, quantified as general polarization (GP), was assessed in 234 subjects with T2D, 86 with prior major CVD. Based on GP distribution, a cut-off of .445 was used to divide the study cohort into two groups: the first with higher GP, called GEL, and the second, defined as lower GP (LGP). Lipidomic analysis was performed to evaluate FA composition of RBC membranes.
Results: Although with comparable CV risk factors, the LGP group had a greater percentage of patients with major CVD than the GEL group (40% vs 24%, respectively, p < .05). Moreover, in a logistic regression analysis, a lower GP value was independently associated with the presence of macrovascular complications. Lipidomic analysis showed a clear shift of LGP membranes towards a pro-inflammatory condition due to higher content of arachidonic acid and increased omega 6/omega 3 index.
Conclusions: Increased membrane fluidity is associated with a higher CV risk in subjects with T2D. If confirmed in prospective studies, membrane fluidity could be a new biomarker for residual CV risk assessment in T2D.
Keywords: cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular risk assessment; fatty acids; fluorescence microscopy; machine-learning; membrane fluidity; type 2 diabetes.
© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Clinical Investigation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.