Relationship Of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor And Carotid Atherosclerosis In Type2Diabetes Mellitus

Objective:To investigate the relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type2diabetes mellitus(T2DM) through detecting the serum BDNF level, serum vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) level and the expression of BDNF mRNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with carotid atherosclerosis(group C,n=64), patients without carotid atherosclerosis(group B,n=56) and healthy individuals(group A,n=56).Methods:A total of120T2DM patients were assigned to non carotid atherosclerosis group(group B, n=56) and the carotid atherosclerosis group(group C,n=64).60healthy controls were recruited from health check-up populations of Lanzhou university second hospital (group A,n=60). Age,Sex, diabetes duration(Dd), lipids, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose(FPG), serum insulin, hemoglobin A1C, carotid intima-media thickness(CIMT), serum BDNF, BDNF mRNA, VEGF, and insulin resistance were measured. Student’s t test and analysis of variance were used for data analysis.Results:(1)Both serum level of BDNF(6.21±3.31ng/ml) and the expression of BDNF mRNA (4.42±1.23)in peripheral blood lymphocytes in T2DM patients were significantly lower than that in group A(9.97±2.59ng/ml,5.86±1.29, P<0.05). The serum level of VEGF (66.65±21.64pg/ml)in T2DM patients was significantly higher than that in group A(49.29±20.23pg/ml,P<0.05).(2) Both serum level of BDNF(5.62±3.41ng/ml) and the expression of BDNF mRNA(4.10±1.13) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in group C were significantly lower than that in group A (9.97±2.59ng/ml,5.86±1.29, P<0.05)and group B(6.88±3.10ng/ml,4.77±1.25,P<0.05). The serum level of VEGF in group C (71.34±20.30pg/ml)was significantly higher than that in group A(49.29±20.23pg/ml, P<0.05)and group B(61.29±22.05pg/ml,P<0.05).(3)In pearson correlation analysis, serum BDNF was correlated with CIMT, BDNF mRNA and VEGF in group C (r value were-0.221,0.359,-0.372, respectively; all P<0.05).(4)Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that serum BDNF was the independent variable of CIMT in group C(r value was0.157. P＜0.05). Conclusions:The level of serum BDNF and BDNFmRNA are significantly decreased and the VEGF is significantly increased in T2DM with carotid atherosclerosis, suggesting that low level of BDNF and high level of VEGF are correlated with the occurrence and development of carotid atherosclerosis.