Correlation of serum chitinase-3-like protein 1 level with cardiovascular complications in Egyptian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background/aim Diabetes mellitus (DM) represents a strong as well as independent risk factor toward cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), considered to be the primary reason for morbidity and mortality linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). DM may alter the production of many inflammatory cytokines, including chitinase-3-like protein 1 (CHI3L1). The present study aims to evaluate the correlation of serum level of CHI3L1 with cardiovascular complications in Egyptian patients with T2DM. Participants and methods A total of 90 participants were enrolled in this case–control study (age range 40–70 years). They were divided into three groups: Group 1, which included 30 T2DM patients with CVDs; group 2, which included 30 T2DM patients without CVDs; and group 3, which included 30 individuals as a control group. Comparison of groups in terms of demographic, laboratory, echocardiography, carotid intima-media thickness, and serum CH3L1 levels was carried out for all participants. Results CHI3L1 was statistically found to be highly statistically significant in group 1 over group 2 (P<0.001) and in group 2 over group 3 (P<0.001). CHI3L1 was positively correlated with the duration of DM (r=0.009; P=0.049), triglyceride (r=0.866; P=0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=0.950; P=0.001) and albumin/creatinine ratio (r=0.386; P=0.002), while a negative correlation existed with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. (r=−0.408; P=0.024). On drawing an receiver operating characteristics curve between groups 1 and 2, the CHI3L1 cutoff point was less than or equal to 67.38 µg/l, and the area under the curve was 0.9193 (P=0.001) with 100% specificity and 60% sensitivity. Conclusions CH3L1 has better specificity and positive predictive value in the differentiation between T2DM patients with cardiovascular complications and those without cardiovascular complications, which may add a new diagnostic biomarker for early detection of CV complications, proposing new efficient therapies for such patients.