ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the serum hepcidin level and risk factors associated with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and foot ulcer in type 2 diabetic patients.Methods:From January 2019 to June 2019, 70 patients with type 2 diabetes in Department of Endocrinology of Xiangya Third Hospital were selected, including 21 newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes (DM group), 23 patients with lower extremity vascular disease (PAD group) and 26 patients with foot ulcer (DF group). Serum hepcidin was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The serum levels of hepcidin in different groups were compared, and the correlation between diabetic lower extremity vascular disease and foot ulcer was analyzed.Results:⑴ The hemoglobin, albumin, triglycerides and total cholesterol were significantly lower in DF group compared with PAD and DM groups ( P<0.05), while the DF group patients were with higher white blood cell (WBC) count and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) than patients in PAD and DM groups ( P<0.05). DF group also showed significantly higher WBC, hs-CRP and neutrophil ratio level (NEUT%) than DM group ( P<0.05). The inflammatory indicators of WBC, hs-CRP and NEUT% showed no significant difference between DM group and PAD group ( P>0.05). ⑵ The levels of hepcidin in DF and PAD groups were higher than those in DM group, while that in DF group were higher than those in PAD group ( P<0.05); Hepcidin was positively correlated with systolic blood pressure, WBC count, NEUT% and ferritin ( P<0.05), and negatively correlated with hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin, albumin and 25-hydroxyvitamin D ( P<0.05). ⑶ Binary multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that elevated hepcidin level was an independent risk factor for diabetic foot ulcer [ OR=1.755, 95% CI: 1.063-2.897, P=0.028]. Conclusions:The fluctuation of serum hepcidin level in diabetic patients is related to the stimulation of inflammation, the degree of anemia and the nutritional status, which means it might be an early indicator of inflammation in diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease. Moreover, the increase of hepcidin is an independent risk factor for diabetic foot ulcers in our study.