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.
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.