BACKGROUND: Laminin, the main non-collagenous constituent of vascular basement membranes, can be changed by alteration of metabolism and distribution in diabetic microangiopathy. The serum laminin levels are known to reflect these histological changes. The aim of present study was to investigate whether the serum laminin levels are related to carotid atherosclerosis and diabetic complications, and to assess what clinical variables influence on the serum laminin levels in type 2 diabetes. METHODS: The subjects were 103 type 2 diabetic patients (51 in the no complication group and 52 in the complication group) and 39 controls. We evaluated the intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques in both carotid arteries by duplex scan. and the serum laminin levels were measured. RESULTS: The serum laminin levels were higher in the group with complications complication group compared to the no complication group (p<0.01), and in the no complication group compared to the control group (plt;0.01). There were no differences in the carotid parameter values between the complication group and the no complication group. The correlations between the serum laminin levels and the measured IMT values were not significant.However, there were significant correlations between the serum laminin levels and the plaque counts and scores (r=0.24, plt;0.05). The presence of diabetic complications, the waist hip ratio, plaque score and apo B affected the elevation of the serum laminin levels (plt;0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The serum laminin levels were related to the presence of diabetic complications. Such levels may be a risk factor for plaque progression rather than the initiation of plaque formation or IMT thickening in the carotid atherosclerosis of type 2 diabetic patients.
Apolipoproteins B ; Basement Membrane ; Carotid Arteries ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diabetic Angiopathies ; Humans ; Laminin* ; Metabolism ; Risk Factors ; Waist-Hip Ratio