MedWire News: Individuals with high levels of the cytokine transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 have an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, show study results.
“Subclinical inflammation represents one important mechanism in the development of insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction, and a systemic proinflammatory state is associated with increased risk for Type 2 diabetes,” say Wolfgang Koenig (University of Ulm Medical Center, Germany) and team.
“However, data on anti-inflammatory immune mediators are scarce,” they add.
Koenig and colleagues therefore tested the concentration of TGF-β1, a mainly immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory cytokine, in 460 people with Type 2 diabetes and 1474 individuals without the condition who acted as controls.
The participants were enrolled in the population-based MONICA (MONItoring of Trends and Determinants in CArdiovascular Disease)/KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg) study.
As reported in the journal Diabetes Care, the researchers found that the mean level of TGF-β1 in Type 2 diabetes patients versus controls was 35.8 versus 35.2 ng/ml, a nonsignificant difference.
However, when participants were stratified into TGF-β1 tertiles 1, 2, and 3 with median values of 28.1, 35.0, and 42.7 ng/ml, respectively, those in tertile 3 had a 41% increased likelihood of having Type 2 diabetes compared with those in tertile 1.
Further adjustment for body mass index and other lifestyle factors did not substantially affect the results.
The results of this study corroborate a previous study’s finding that high levels of another anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) preceded the onset of Type 2 diabetes, say the authors.
“This new finding underlines that the immune activation during the development of Type 2 diabetes is complex and includes both pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators,” conclude Koenig et al.
“One explanation could be that elevated concentrations of TGF-β1 and IL-1Ra represent a counter regulation of the proinflammatory state that increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes,” they suggest.
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