Cimini FA, et al. - Aims of this study were to evaluate circulating interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels in adult patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in comparison with non-diabetic subjects and to describe clinical and biochemical correlates of IL-8 concentration. Evidence showed that patients with T2D display a marked elevation of circulating IL-8 levels which distinguish subjects with worse inflammatory, glycometabolic and lipid profile and lower vitamin D levels. Further research is needed for assessing a possible role of IL-8 as a novel marker for risk stratification in T2D patients.

Methods

• Researchers designed a cross-sectional study including a sum of 79 consecutive T2D individuals referring to the diabetes outpatient clinics at Sapienza University of Rome, and 37 sex, age and BMI comparable non-diabetic subjects as a control group.
• They recorded clinical parameters and medical history; fasting blood sampling was performed for biochemistry and for measuring serum IL-8, IL-6, TNF- α, CRP, adiponectin and 25(OH)vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels.

Results

• They exhibited evidence that patients with T2D exhibited significantly higher serum IL-8 levels than non-diabetic subjects (69.27 ± 112.83 vs. 16.03 ± 24.27 pg/mL, p < 0.001).
• The data indicated that increased IL-8 concentration associated with higher IL-6 (p < 0.001), TNF- α (p = 0.02), FBG (p = 0.035), HbA1c (p = 0.04) and LDL-C (p = 0.04) and with lower adiponectin (p = 0.02) and 25(OH)D (p = 0.003) concentrations in diabetic patients.