ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Various biological markers of subclinical atherosclerosis have been proposed to predict cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). However, there are only a few clinical studies assessing the role of invasive biomarkers [CD-36, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-?) and YKL-40] in Indian patients with type 2 DM (T2DM). Hence, the present study was conducted to assess protein levels and gene expression of CD-36, PPAR-? and YKL-40 in patients with T2DM and compare that with hypertensive and healthy controls. Methods: All the participants were subjected to medical history, anthropometric measurements and biochemical and biomarker (ELISA and real-time polymerase chain reaction) estimations. The study groups consisted of patients with T2DM (>5 yr) with hypertension (n=55), patients with T2DM (<2 yr) without hypertension (n=28), hypertensive controls (n=31) and healthy controls (n=30). Results: Gene expressions of YKL-40 and CD36 were significantly higher in patients with T2DM (>5 yr) with hypertension compared to healthy controls (P=0.006). In addition, a significant increase in serum levels of sCD36, PPAR-? and YKL-40 was observed in patients with T2DM (>5 yr) with hypertension compared to healthy controls (P<0.05). Serum levels as well as gene expression of CD36 showed significant correlation with serum levels as well as gene expression of PPAR-? (?=0.45 and ?=0.51; P<0.001), respectively. Interpretation & conclusions: CD36 and YKL-40 may be potential inflammatory biomarkers for early onset of atherosclerosis in patients with T2DM.