Baltzis Dimitrios, Meimeti Evangelia, Grammatikopoulou Maria G, Roustit Matthieu, Mavrogonatou Eleni, Kletsas Dimitris, Efraimidou Smaragda, Manes Christos, Nikolouzakis Taxiarchis K, Tsiaoussis John, Tsatsakis Aristides M, Spandidos Demetrios A, Trakatelli Christina-Maria, Drakoulis Nikolaos
Diabetes Center, Papageorgiou General Hospital, 56403 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Papageorgiou General Hospital, 56403 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Exp Ther Med. 2018 Apr;15(4):3420-3424. doi: 10.3892/etm.2018.5798. Epub 2018 Jan 25.
Telomerase is the enzyme that maintains telomere length by adding telomeric repeats after each cell division. Numerous metabolic factors such as obesity, insulin resistance or physical inactivity have been associated with shortened telomeres. In the present study, we assessed telomerase activity in diabetic patients having or not foot ulcer. A total of 90 adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were studied. Patients were allocated into two groups according to the absence or presence of active foot ulcers as follows: Νon-ulcer group (N=58) and ulcer group (N=32). Our data revealed that the patients with diabetic ulcers had significantly greater waist circumference and neuropathy disability score, while exhibiting lower telomerase activity, indicating the possible existence of a common clinical profile among ulcer-bearing diabetic patients. Validation of our findings by extending the study in larger patient groups may contribute to the understanding of T2DM pathophysiology and its main clinical implications.
端粒酶是一种通过在每次细胞分裂后添加端粒重复序列来维持端粒长度的酶。许多代谢因素，如肥胖、胰岛素抵抗或缺乏体育活动，都与端粒缩短有关。在本研究中，我们评估了有或没有足部溃疡的糖尿病患者的端粒酶活性。共研究了90名成年2型糖尿病（T2DM）患者。根据是否存在活动性足部溃疡，将患者分为两组，如下：无溃疡组（N = 58）和溃疡组（N = 32）。我们的数据显示，患有糖尿病溃疡的患者腰围和神经病变残疾评分显著更高，而端粒酶活性更低，这表明患有溃疡的糖尿病患者可能存在共同的临床特征。通过在更大的患者群体中扩展研究来验证我们的发现，可能有助于理解T2DM的病理生理学及其主要临床意义。
