Abstract
BackgroundPentraxin 3 (PTX3), a member of a superfamily of conserved proteins called pentraxins. PTX3 and C-reactive protein (CRP) are members of this family and play an important role in the innate immune system. PTX3 is classified as a long pentraxin, while CRP is a short pentraxin. PTX3 is reported to be a vascular inflammatory marker providing prognostic information of vasculopathy, such as diabetic nephropathy (DN). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between serum PTX3 concentrations and the development and/or progression of DN. A total number of 66 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 22 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Patients with T2DM were divided, according to the levels of urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR), into three groups: normoalbuminuric, microalbuminuric, and macroalbuminuric groups. Serum PTX3 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentrations were determined using ELISA kits.ResultsSerum PTX3 and hs-CRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients with T2DM compared with the controls. Furthermore, serum PTX3 concentrations were significantly higher in macroalbuminuric patients than in microalbuminuric patients (P < 0.001) and also were significantly higher in microalbuminuric patients than in normoalbuminuric patients (P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences between controls and T2DM patients with normoalbuminuria regarding serum PTX3 concentrations (P > 0.05). Moreover, like PTX3, hs-CRP concentrations were higher in microalbuminuric patients than in normoalbuminuric patients (P < 0.05), and also, there were no significant differences between controls and T2DM patients with normoalbuminuria regarding hs-CRP concentrations (P > 0.05). But, unlike PTX3, there were no significant differences between macroalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients regarding hs-CRP concentrations (P > 0.05).ConclusionsSerum PTX3 is positively associated with DN development and progression, and may be a more accurate predictor of DN development than hs-CRP as it can discriminate between macroalbuminuric and microalbuminuric DN patients, while hs-CRP cannot.
Highlights
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), a member of a superfamily of conserved proteins called pentraxins
Demographic characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and controls As presented in Table 1, the mean age for groups I, II, III-A, and III-B was 52.64 ± 6.33, 54.68 ± 6.68, 57.36 ± 6.71, and 65.95 ± 4.24 years, respectively. These results demonstrate that patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN) had significantly higher ages as compared to the control and diabetic without DN groups
This study showed that the mean value of body mass index (BMI) for groups I, II, III-A, and III-B was 24.17 ± 1.44, 25.35 ± 1.32, 26.69 ± 1.92, and 27.42 ± 1.84, respectively
Summary
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), a member of a superfamily of conserved proteins called pentraxins. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic non-communicable systemic disease characterized by hyperglycemia and considered as a major public health problem [1]. It is considered one of the most important causes of increased morbidity and mortality all over the world as it. DN is a clinical syndrome characterized by the occurrence of persistent microalbuminuria in concomitance with insulin- or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. It is diagnosed by persistent increment of albumin or protein in urine when there is no any other known renal disease [6]
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