Serum resistin as a biological marker for coronary artery disease and restenosis in type 2 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND Resistin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone. The relationship between circulating resistin concentrations and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) in type 2 diabetic patients, if any, remains poorly understood. Serum resistin concentrations were investigated in type 2 diabetic patients with CAD (DMCAD), and compared with the concentrations in diabetics patients without CAD (diabetes mellitus, DM). Whether resistin levels are associated with increased restenosis rates in diabetic patients with CAD after successful coronary stenting was also investigated. METHODS AND RESULTS Fasting serum resistin, adiponectin, and leptin concentrations were measured in 45 DMCAD patients and 47 DM controls. The percutaneous coronary intervention study included 70 DMCAD patients, who underwent elective and successful coronary bare metal stent (BMS) implantation for the treatment of de novo lesions. Serum resistin concentrations were higher in the DMCAD patients than in the DM controls (5.75+/-3.21 vs 2.53+/-2.47 ng/ml, mean +/- SEM, p<0.001), and these differences were persistent regardless of age or body mass index. Insulin resistance indices, as assessed via homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) correlated significantly with resistin concentrations (r=0.4, p<0.001). Resistin was an independent factor, and was associated with DMCAD in the multivariate analysis. In the percutaneous coronary intervention study, HOMA-IR was not associated with subsequent restenosis rates after BMS implantation in DMCAD patients. Pre-procedural serum resistin concentrations were higher in restenosis group than in the patients without restenosis. CONCLUSIONS Serum resistin may prove to be a useful biological marker for CAD and restenosis in patients with type 2 DM.