Elevated soluble cell adhesion molecules E-selectin and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 in type-2 diabetic patients with and without asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease

Aim. Cell adhesion molecules may serve as markers of endothelial cell activation, and they may well have a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic vascular disease in diabetes mellitus. Methods. Experimental design: a cross sectional, comparative study. Setting: a teaching University Hospital. Patients and controls. A cohort of diabetic patients with absent peripheral arterial pulses but no history of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease i.e. asymptomatic (n=29), median age 68 (36-80) years, (range), diabetes duration 10 (1-43) years and HbA1c 7.7% (4.8-9.6). They were compared to 12 age and sex matched normal non-diabetic controls. Intervention: none. Measures: soluble cell adhesion molecules intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and E-selectin levels measured by ELISA methods. Results. The 29 patients with diabetes, as a whole, were found to have significantly higher median plasma sICAM-1 and sE-selectin of 283 ng/ml (154-1000) (range), and 65.8 ng/ml (20.6-145) vs 237 (147-312.4) and 37.7 (19.8-46.6) respectively, Mann Whitney U test p<0.02, and p<0.002. In the diabetic group, E-selectin correlated with ICAM-1, age and HbAlc: r=0.524 p<0.01, r=0.385 p<0.05 and r=0.393 p<0.05 respectively (Spearman correlation coefficient). Conclusion. These results confirm that elevated levels of adhesion molecules, E-selectin and ICAM-1 occur in Type-2 diabetes early in the course of asymptomatic peripheral arterial occlusive disease, and this is related to glycemic control. This suggests that adhesion molecules may have a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic vascular disease in diabetes.