ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between serum chemerin level in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) and the development and progression of atherosclerosis.

MethodsA total of 117 T2DM patients were selected.Based on carotid intima-media thickness(CIMT), they were divided into CIMT normal group(n=55) and CIMT thickening group(n=62).Based on visceral fat area(VFA), all the patients were divided into was divided into the abdominal obesity group(n=49), and non-abdominal obesity group(n=68).All study subjects had been recorded including their body mass index(BMI), systolic blood pressure(SBP), diastolic blood pressure(DBP).Moreover, fasting blood glucose(FBS), fasting insulin(FINS), triglycerides(TG), total cholesterol(TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol(HDL-C), glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c), C-reactive protein(CRP) and other indicators were detected.Furthermore, the serum chemerin concentrations were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the abdominal VFA and abdominal subcutaneous fat area(SFA) were measured by the bio-electrical inpedance analysis method.The differences of observation indexes between the two groups were compared.Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to explore the correlation between serum chemerin levels and the observation indexes.Binary logistics regression analysis was performed on the related factors of VFA and CIMT thickening.

ResultsCompared with the CIMT normal group, the TC, TG, FINS, HOMA-IR, DBP, SBP, VFA, chemerin and SFA were all increased in the CIMT thickening group(P < 0.01).Compared with the non-abdominal obesity group, TC, TG, HOMA-IR, DBP, SBP, SFA, chemerin and CIMT was increased in the abdominal obesity group(P < 0.05).The results of correlation analysis showed that serum chemerin levels in patients with T2DM were positively correlated with SBP, DBP, TC, TG, BMI, FINS, HOMA-RI, VFA, SFA and CIMT(r=0.277, 0.303, 0.295, 0.299, 0.567, 0.317, 0.380, 0.795, 0.903, 0.565, P < 0.01).The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that VFA, chemerin, FINS and SFA were the related factors of CIMT(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01);chemerin, SFA, HOMA-IR and CIMT were the related factors of VFA(P < 0.05).

ConclusionsChemerin can promote the thickening of CIMT in patients with T2DM, which is a risk factor participating in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis for patients with T2DM.