Plasma Apelin Concentrations in Non-obese Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: The discovery of the apelin - APJ axis is an exciting development in cardiovascular research. Apelin is thought to play roles in cardiovascular functions and volume regulation like vasodilation and decreased blood pressure; vasoconstriction in the presence of dysfunctional endothelium; positive inotropic effects; inhibition of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) release; dilation of afferent and efferent arterioles, and vasoconstrictive effects on smooth muscle cells. Objective: This study was designed to identify the association between apelin concentrations and acute phase of myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and without. Subjects and Methods: This study included (90) individuals, (60) patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (30) patients had type 2 diabetes and (30) patients of them had normal blood glucose, (30) individuals with atypical chest pain normal ECG and normal coronary angiography were included as a control group. Plasma apelin was measured using Apelin microplate ELISA assay kit. Results: The mean plasma apelin in AMI diabetic and non-diabetic patients were (1.21±0.72, 1.24±0.76) respectively which were significantly lower compared to control group (2.67± 0.8), p < 0.001. There is no significant difference between diabetic and non-diabetic groups, p=0.5. There were positive significant correlations between plasma apelin and BMI and HDL-cholesterol in both AMI groups. There were negative significant correlations between plasma apelin and LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and CRP in both AMI groups. Conclusions: The present study showed that decreased plasma apelin level was associated with AMI in non obese patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus and it was not related to age, BMI, LDL-cholesterol, TG, HbA1c, CRP and other coronary artery disease risk factors.