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The article focuses on the study that compares the effect of rosuvastatin and colestimide on adipokines and markers of oxidative stress and diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia. It states that 40 patients with the disease were recruited and assigned randomly to the two groups. Their blood and urine were assessed at the beginning of the study and after 12 weeks. The study found out that rosuvastatin and colestimide exert different beneficial effects.

Objective: We investigated the correlation between acute-phase reactants, ie, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or fibrinogen and diabetic complications. Methods: In 73 patients with type 2 diabetes, we investigated associations between both markers and carotid artery intimal medial complex thickness (IMT), heart rate variability, or urinary albumin excretion (UAE). Results: Log hsCRP and fibrinogen correlated significantly with each other (r = 0.3701, P = 0.0013). Fibrinogen correlated negatively with the coefficient of variation of RR intervals (CV(RR)) and positively with log UAE (r = -0.2433, P = 0.0381; r = 0.4815, P < 0.0001), while log hsCRP did not. Furthermore both log hsCRP and fibrinogen did not correlate with IMT. Conclusion: We concluded that despite their close correlation, fibrinogen compared with hsCRP might be closely associated with diabetic microangiopathy and that both markers might not correlate with IMT as a marker of macroangiopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinal binding protein (RBP)-4 is a newly identified adipocytokine that can cause insulin resistance. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between RBP4 and various markers related to insulin resistance, including triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), blood pressure (BP), endothelial function, oxidative stress, inflammation, and diabetic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. The effect of pioglitazone (a thiazolidinedione) on RBP4 was also examined. Circulating RBP4 levels were measured in 101 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes and in 22 non-hospitalized control subjects. Endothelial function and oxidative stress were evaluated using flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD) and urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α, respectively. Pioglitazone was administered for 12 weeks at a dose of 30 mg/day in a further 22 patient with type 2 diabetes in outpatient department. There was a significant elevation of RBP4 levels in diabetic patients compared with healthy subjects. RBP4 showed significant positive correlations with TG, systolic BP and log urinary albumin excretion (UAE), and significant negative correlations with HDL-C and FMD. By stepwise regression analysis log UAE, TG and gender showed a significant association with RBP4. There was a significant elevation of RBP4 in patients with proliferative-diabetic retinopathy compared with non-diabetic retinopathy and simple-diabetic retinopathy patients. Pioglitazone therapy for 12 weeks did not significantly affect the RBP4 concentration. In conclusion, this current study indicates the possibility that circulating RBP4 levels are associated with variables related to insulin resistance and diabetic complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between vascular endothelial function and diabetic microangiopathy (nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the association between endothelial function and macroangiopathy evaluated by intimal-medial complex thickness (IMT) was also investigated. Endothelial function was evaluated by measurement of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery. Diabetic nephropathy and neuropathy were assessed by urinary albumin excretion (UAE) and motor or sensory nerve conduction velocity (MCV, SCV), respectively, and retinopathy was evaluated by an ophthalmologist using the Davis classification. FMD was measured in 102 patients with type 2 diabetes and in 20 control subjects, and showed a tendency to be lower in the diabetic patients. A significant decrease was obtained in FMD in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), compared with those in patients with no diabetic retinopathy (NDR). FMD showed significant positive correlations with MCV and SCV, and significant negative correlations with log UAE, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diabetic duration, but no correlation was obtained between FMD and IMT. By stepwise regression analysis, MCV alone showed a significant association with FMD. In conclusion, the current study suggests that in patients with type 2 diabetes FMD is closely associated with all types of microangiopathy, with neuropathy being most strongly associated with FMD; however, FMD is not associated with macroangiopathy evaluated by IMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obejective. To investigate short-term effects of pioglitazone or voglibose on serum concentrations of both total and high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin measured with a novel sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and on plasma fibrinolysis indicators, in type 2 diabetic patients with a second failure of treatment with sulfonylureas. Methods. Thirty-four diabetic patients were randomized to receive pioglitazone or voglibose treatment for 12 weeks, after which serum HMW adiponectin was measured. Plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 and thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), a recently identified inhibitor of fibrinolysis, were measured as fibrinolysis inhibitors. Results. At baseline, serum HMW adiponectin correlated negatively with plasma TAFI in all patients with type 2 diabetes (r=0.367, P=0.0423). Both groups showed similar improvements in glycemic control. Serum total and HMW adiponectin increased in patients treated with pioglitazone, while showing no significant changes in patients treated with voglibose. The HMW/total adiponectin ratio increased significantly after treatment with pioglitazone (P=0.0004). Changes in HbA1c showed significant negative correlations with changes in serum HMW adiponectin in patients treated with pioglitazone (r=-0.694, P=0.0034). Plasma PAI-1 tended to decrease after pioglitazone treatment (P=0.0908), while plasma TAFI did not change. Conclusion. Increased serum HMW adiponectin may contribute to the improvement in glycemic control after pioglitazone treatment. Plasma PAI-1 decreased somewhat after treatment with pioglitazone, while plasma TAFI was unchanged by either drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An increase of serum ferritin, an indicator of body iron store, is associated with insulin resistance and with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the general population. A low serum adiponectin is also associated with insulin resistance. Recently, hepcidin was identified as a regulator of iron metabolism. We investigated whether serum adiponectin was associated with serum ferritin or prohepcidin, a precursor of hepcidin, in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes. We studied 65 healthy subjects and 104 patients with type 2 diabetes. A serum ferritin concentration ≥300ng/ml for men or ≥150ng/ml for women was defined as hyperferritinemia. Serum ferritin was significantly higher and serum prohepcidin was significantly lower in diabetic patients than in control subjects. Serum total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin correlated negatively with serum ferritin in control subjects or diabetic patients, while serum total and HMW adiponectin correlated positively with serum prohepcidin in diabetic patients, but not in control subjects. Serum total and HMW adiponectin were lower in patients with hyperferritinemia than in those without it. In conclusion, serum ferritin was increased in type 2 diabetic patients, while serum prohepcidin was decreased. A high serum ferritin was associated with insulin resistance, and with low serum total and HMW adiponectin in patients with type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We investigated the effects of low-dose pioglitazone (7.5mg/day) on serum high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and fluid retention (estimated from hematocrit) in 14 male and 16 female patients with type 2 diabetes. All of them were being treated with sulfonylureas and had poor glycemic control. Patients were given 7.5mg/day of pioglitazone and were followed for 12 weeks at monthly intervals. In all 30 patients, HbA1c was significantly decreased after 12 weeks of treatment with pioglitazone (8.2±0.7% vs. 7.4±0.8%, P <0.0001). Serum HMW adiponectin increased markedly from 5.2 (2.4, 8.6)μg/ml at baseline to 9.8 (4.1, 12.6)μg/ml at the end of pioglitazone treatment (P <0.0001). When the changes were evaluated separately for each sex, diabetic men showed no increase of body weight or BMI after treatment, while HbA1c decreased significantly, and did Hct. Serum HMW adiponectin increased significantly after treatment. In diabetic women, neither body weight nor BMI increased after treatment with pioglitazone, as was the case for the men. HbA1c decreased significantly, and did Hct. Serum HMW adiponectin increased significantly after treatment. In conclusion, low-dose pioglitazone therapy could significantly improved glycemic control and markedly increased serum HMW adiponectin in both male and female Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]