Investigation of Thr715Pro P-selectin gene polymorphism and soluble P-selectin levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Increased levels of soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) have been shown in a number of different disorders, e.g. diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Several studies have attempted to demonstrate the association of the most intensively examined variant of P-selectin gene polymorphism (Thr715Pro) with sP-selectin levels in healthy subjects and in CVD, but contradictory data have been reported. To clarify the effect of Pro715 allele on the sP-selectin levels in type 2 DM, we analysed this polymorphism in diabetic patients and compared these data with sP-selectin levels. Type 2 DM patients (n = 119), 48 BMImatched non diabetic individuals - consisting mostly of overweight subjects - and 57 healthy volunteers were included in the study. TheThr715Pro polymorphism was analysed by PCR-RFLP, while sP-selectin levels were measured by ELISA. Significantly elevated sP-selectin levels were found in both DM and in overweight subjects compared to healthy controls. We confirmed previous reports that in healthy Pro715 allele carriers lower sPselectin levels could be measured; however, this difference was only significant in case of lean subjects. No significant difference was detected in sP-selectin level among DM and overweight individuals according to this genotype. However, significant difference was observed in sP-selectin levels in older DM patients compared to younger ones, but these levels were not accounted for by the Thr715Pro polymorphism. We suggest that in type 2 DM individuals, the significantly elevated sP-selectin levels are not due to the Thr715Pro P-selectin gene polymorphism.