Serum resistin, insulin resistance and carotid intima-media thickness as an indication of subclinical atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Aim of the work: To evaluate resistin level in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to assess the relationship with insulin resistance, disease characteristics, inflammatory markers and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) as a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. Patients and methods: Thirty adult SLE patients and twenty age and sex-matched control were enrolled. All patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination and assessment of anthropometric measurements. Laboratory investigations included serum resistin, measures of insulin resistance, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and lipid profile. Carotid duplex was performed for measurement of CIMT. SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI-2k) and damage index were evaluated. Results: The 30 patients were 23 (76.7%) females and 7 (23.3%) males (F:M 3.3:1) with a mean age of 30.9 +/- 7.9 years. The disease duration was 4.8 +/- 1.8 years. The mean serum resistin in patients was 7.7 +/- 2.9 ng/dl and in control was 8.5 +/- 5.1 ng/dl (p = 0.8). The ESR and hs-CRP were significantly increased (p < 0.001) and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) decreased (p < 0.001). The mean CIMT was significantly increased in cases (0.62 +/- 0.16 mm) compared to control (0.51 +/- 0.11 mm)(p = 0.006). Serum resistin significantly correlated with hs-CRP, HDL and anti-nuclear antibody (p = 0.027, p < 0.001,p = 0.013 respectively). There was no significant correlation between resistin and markers of insulin resistance, SLEDAI-2 k and CIMT. Conclusion: Resistin expression in the serum of patients with SLE was not significantly higher than controls. Although resistin was correlated with two cardiovascular risk factors (HDL-C, hs-CRP), it did not correlate significantly with insulin resistance, disease activity, damage index and CIMT in SLE patients. (C) 2021 Egyptian Society of Rheumatic Diseases. Publishing services provided by Elsevier B.V.