Abstract

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the expression of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) in diabetic rats with atherosclerosis and to investigate the role of vitamin D intervention. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, including the control group (NC), the diabetic rats (DM1), the untreated diabetic atherosclerosis rats (DM2), and the vitamin D-treated diabetic atherosclerosis rats (DM3). The levels of serum and adipose RBP4, fasting insulin (FINS), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], C-reactive protein (CRP), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were measured. Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), homeostasis model assessment β-cell function index (HOMA-β), and atherogenic indexes (AI) were calculated. Compared with group NC, the levels of RBP4, TG, LDL-c, FPG, FINS, CRP, AI1, AI2, SBP, and HOMA-IR increased, while the levels of HDL-c, 25(OH)D, and HOMA-β decreased in groups DM1 and DM2. After 8 weeks of vitamin D supplementation in group DM3, the levels of 25(OH)D and HOMA-β increased and the levels of LDL-c, TC, HOMA-IR, FINS, CRP, RBP4, AI1, AI2, and SBP decreased significantly when compared with group DM2 (P < 0.05); Pearson analysis showed that serum RBP4 was positively correlated with TG, FINS, HOMA-IR, SBP, CRP, and AI and negatively correlated with 25(OH)D. In addition, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that serum RBP4, SBP, and HDL-c were predictors for the presence of diabetic atherosclerosis. These findings suggested that RBP4 could involve in the improvement of diabetic atherosclerosis; vitamin D had the ability to decrease the level of RBP4 and eventually played an important role in preventing atherosclerosis in diabetes.

Highlights

  • It is reported that the worldwide prevalence of diabetes keeps increasing and may lead to a high incidence of macrovascular complications, such as heart failure, ischemic stroke, and nonfatal myocardial infarction

  • Compared with group DM2, we found that the levels of 25(OH)D and homeostasis model assessment β-cell function index (HOMA-β) increased significantly while the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), total cholesterol (TC), Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-insulin resistance (IR)), C-reactive protein (CRP), AI1, AI2, fasting insulin (FINS), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased in group DM3 after 8 weeks of treatment with vitamin D (P < 0 05)

  • We found that the levels of adipose tissue and serum Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) in the DM groups especially in the diabetic

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Summary

Introduction

It is reported that the worldwide prevalence of diabetes keeps increasing and may lead to a high incidence of macrovascular complications, such as heart failure, ischemic stroke, and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Multiple studies have found that the level of RBP4 was elevated in obesity, T2DM, and other insulin-resistant diseases, which has explained the underlying association of RBP4 and insulin resistance (IR) as well as diabetes [3,4,5,6]. A research conducted in patients with high risks of cardiovascular diseases has found that the level of RBP4 increased significantly [7]. Emerging evidences have linked elevated level of serum RBP4 to cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and coronary artery diseases

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