Maciej RabczyÅski, Å»anna Fiodorenko-Dumas, Rajmund Adamiec and MaÅgorzata Paprocka-Borowicz
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus, as a metabolic disease, is closely associated with the development of atherosclerosis lesions. The share of heat shock proteins and antibodies in the HSP -60/65 atherogenesis in patients with type 2 diabetes is still an area subject to numerous studies.
Material and methods: The study was conducted in the group of 46 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with macrovascular complications and 62 patients with atherosclerosis. The control group was comprised of a cohort of healthy volunteers in the corresponding age. Tissue material acquired during the planned endarterectomy from the internal carotid artery was used to measure the serum levels of anti HSP 60/65, the plasma levels of vWF, and to perform the immunohistochemistry study.
Results: There was a higher concentration of anti HSP-60/65 in the group of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with macrovascular complications and patients with atherosclerosis without the endocrinopathies than in the control group (55.67 ± 65.43 vs. 26.09 ± 13.85, 82.98 ± 26.09 vs. 111.18 ± 13.85). Immunohistochemical method allowed observing a strong correlation between the concentration of antibodies to HSP60/65 in the blood serum and the protein expression of HSP 60/65 in the carotid arterial wall. The concentration of antibodies to HSP 60/65 was associated with the increase in the concentration of von Willebrand factor - marker of endothelial dysfunction (R=0.388, p<0.01).
Conclusions: The research indicated an additional connection between the serum level of antibodies to HSP 60/65 and of vWF, in patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus with macrovascular complications, suggesting their influence on endothelial cell damage in the course of diabetic vascular complications.