Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: The role of lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) in endometrial cancer (EC) or EC with concurrent type 2 diabetes is still unclear. This study investigated the LCAT activity, ox-LDL, and lipid profile in EC patients with or without type 2 diabetes and compared them with healthy individuals and patients with type 2 diabetes alone. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, case-control study, 93 female participants were recruited. The participants were divided into four groups, including EC with type 2 diabetes (n = 19), EC without type 2 diabetes (n = 17), type 2 diabetes (n = 31), and healthy controls (n = 26). Sociodemographic information, the LCAT activity, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and ox-LDL levels were collected. One-way analysis of variance and analysis of covariance, Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and χ (2)-test were used to compare demographic features and laboratory results among studied groups. Regression analyses were also performed to evaluate the interaction effect between EC and type 2 diabetes on serum LCAT activity. RESULTS: The LCAT activity was significantly lower, and ox-LDL levels were significantly higher in all patient groups compared to the healthy controls (p < 0.001). EC patients had significantly lower LCAT activity and higher ox-LDL levels than type 2 diabetes and healthy groups (p < 0.05). Higher levels of TG and lower levels of HDL-C were observed in all patient groups compared to the healthy group (all p < 0.001). Patients with EC and concomitant type 2 diabetes had significantly lower serum LDL-C levels than healthy and type 2 diabetes groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of EC and type 2 diabetes had a subadditive effect on LCAT activity and ox-LDL level. The lowest LCAT activity and the highest ox-LDL levels were observed in patients with EC and concurrent type 2 diabetes.