Evaluation of salusin-α and salusin-β levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and determination of the impact of severity of hyperglycemia on salusin levels

Aims To investigate the usefulness of salusin-alpha and salusin-beta as biomarkers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to determine whether diabetes severity and obesity have an effect on the salusin levels in diabetic patients. Methods The study included a total of 90 patients, comprising 55 diagnosed with T2DM and 35 healthy volunteers with similar demographic characteristics. Salusins were assayed by a commercially available ELISA kit. Results The salusin-beta levels were found to be significantly higher in T2DM group compared to control group, while the salusin-alpha levels were lower (p < 0.05, for both). Furthermore, in patient group, Spearman analysis showed a statistically significant negative correlation between salusin-alpha and fasting glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), whereas salusin-beta had a statistically significant positive correlation with fasting glucose and HbA1c (p < 0.05, for both). When analyzed according to the HbA1c groups, the patients with HbA1c > 9% had significantly lower salusin-alpha and higher salusin-beta levels levels compared to those with HbA1c < 9% (p < 0.05, for both). When examined according to body-mass-index groups, there was no significant difference in the salusin levels of the patient and control groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion We demonstrated that the serum salusin-alpha level was decreased whereas the salusin-beta level was increased in patients with T2DM compared to healthy subjects, and this was more pronounced as T2DM-deteriorated. We also showed that obesity had no effect on salusin levels among diabetics. This study may provide a basis for the availability of salusin-targeted therapies, especially in uncontrolled T2DM.