Affiliations: Departments of Internal Medicine/Cardiology and Public
Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center
Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Joseph Yeboah, M.D., Department of
Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine,
Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. Tel.: +1 336 716 7253;
Fax: +1 336 716 9188; E-mail: jyeboah@wfubmc.edu
Abstract: Objective: We tested associations of the growth factors VEGF, FGF-2,
HGF and PDGF-BB with coronary artery calcium scores and cardiovascular events
(CVD) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A cross-sectional
study selected 40 frequency matched (by age, gender and race) subjects with
T2DM from the first (0–111) and the third (> 1400) coronary artery
calcium (CAC) score tertiles in the Diabetes Heart Study (DHS), in which 36
were with and 41 were without history of CVD events. Plasma levels of VEGF,
FGF-2, HGF and PDGF-BB were measured in all subjects. Results: None of
the growth factors was significantly different between the first and third CAC
score tertiles. Mean plasma FGF-2 and PDGF-BB levels were significantly higher
in the group without prior CVD events compared with the group with prior CVD
events [mean(95%CI): 219.20 (194.42–247.15) vs. 152.93 (135.64–172.43)
pg/ml, p=0.03] and [mean(95%CI): 106.70 (89.12–127.74) vs. 61.56
(50.91–74.44) pg/ml, p=0.03], respectively. Subgroup analysis in the first
CAC tertile showed a significantly higher PDGF-BB levels in those without
compared with those with CVD events [mean (95%CI): 208.36 (190.57–228.15)
vs. 102.93 (80.64–125.21) pg/ml, p=0.004]. Conclusion: Plasma growth
factor levels were not significantly different between the extremes of CAC
scores in T2DM. However, low plasma levels of PDGF-BB and FGF-2 are associated
with prior cardiovascular events in T2DM. Studies are needed to confirm our
results and also to establish temporality of this association.
