Increased Plasma S100A12 Levels Are Associated With Diabetic Retinopathy and Prognostic Biomarkers of Macrovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.

PURPOSE

To explore the association between plasma S100A12 levels and the presence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and disease outcomes.

METHODS

Fasting venous blood samples were collected from 372 subjects (264 relatively healthy subjects with type 2 diabetes and 108 nondiabetic subjects). The plasma CRP, pentosidine, soluble form of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), and S100A12 levels were analyzed in all of the patients and controls. In total, 264 patients with diabetes were followed through office visits and medical records for an average of 17.6 ± 1.5 months to determine the occurrence of major adverse disease end points.

RESULTS

An increase in the plasma levels of S100A12, pentosidine, sRAGE, and hs-CRP from healthy to T2DM to T2DM with DR was observed. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that plasma S100A12 levels were independently associated with the presence of DR in the patients with T2DM (odds ratio, 1.421; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.036-2.531; P = 0.033). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for developing DR using the Log S100A12, Log pentosidine, Log sRAGE, and Log hs-CRP values revealed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were 0.822 (P < 0.001), 0.561 (P = 0.092), 0.572 (P = 0.051), and 0.566 (P = 0.068), respectively. Increased plasma S100A12 levels might be predictive of future major adverse disease end points in DR patients without a previous diagnosis of macrovascular disease.

CONCLUSIONS

The plasma levels of S100A12 are closely associated with the presence of DR and might be a better biomarker for DR and the prediction of future macrovascular events.