SVCAM-1 levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with micro- and macrovascular complications

In the course of prolonged hyperglycemia, changes similar to chronic inflammation occur m the organism, with increased phagocytic cell transition (neutrophils, monocytes) by the endothelium towards sites of inflammation. An important role m these processes is played by some of the protein structures found on the cell surface which serve to allow interaction among cells and between cells and the extracellular matrix. Those molecules are called adhesion molecules (cell adhesion molecules - CAM). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecules (sVCAM) m serum of patients with type 2 diabetes with associated micro-and macro-vascular complications. The highest median sVCAM-1 levels were found m patients with diabetes who showed macrovascular complications. In this group, patients with myocardial infarct (919.6 ng/ml) and coronary heart disease (907.2 ng/ml) had significantly higher levels of sVCAM-1 compared with the group without complications. Taking into account the available literature reports as well as the results obtained during this study we can conclude that the metabolic abnormalities characteristic of type 2 diabetes i.e. hyperglycemia, are the results of inflammation and may be responsible for their intensification. Markers of inflammation as adhesion molecules may be useful predictive indicators of cardiovascular complications of diabetes. More studies are needed to understand the sequence of events leading to abnormal vascular function m subjects with type 2 diabetes.