Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) in sera of patients with type 1 diabetes and diabetic complications

Background

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), commonly known as monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases characterized by monocytic infiltration. However, limited data have been reported on MCP-1 in type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the findings are inconclusive and inconsistent.

Methods

In this study, MCP-1 was measured in the sera from 2,472 T1D patients and 2,654 healthy controls using a Luminex assay. The rs1024611 SNP in the promoter region of MCP-1 was genotyped for a subset of subjects (1764 T1D patients and 1323 controls) using the TaqMan-assay.

Results

Subject age, sex or genotypes of MCP-1 rs1024611SNP did not have a major impact on serum MCP-1 levels in either healthy controls or patients. While hemoglobin A1c levels did not have a major influence on serum MCP-1 levels, the mean serum MCP-1 levels are significantly higher in patients with multiple complications (mean = 242 ng/ml) compared to patients without any complications (mean = 201 ng/ml) (p = 3.5×10⁻⁶). Furthermore, mean serum MCP-1 is higher in controls (mean = 261 ng/ml) than T1D patients (mean = 208 ng/ml) (p<10⁻²³). More importantly, the frequency of subjects with extremely high levels (>99^th percentile of patients or 955 ng/ml) of serum MCP-1 is significantly lower in the T1D group compared to the control group (odds ratio = 0.11, p<10⁻³³).

Conclusion

MCP-1 may have a dual role in T1D and its complications. While very high levels of serum MCP-1 may be protective against the development of T1D, complications are associated with higher serum MCP-1 levels within the T1D group.