Serum APPL1 level is elevated in newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective: To investigate serum APPL1 level in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and analyze its correlation with body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, fasting blood insulin, HbA1c, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

Methods: Serum APPL1 levels were determined using ELISA in 22 normal control subjects and 63 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM, and HOMA-IR of the subjects was calculated using the HOMA model.

Results: The diabetic patients had significantly elevated levels of serum APPL1 compared with the control subjects (85.71∓27.39 vs 64.52∓16.28 pg/ml, P<0.01), with also significantly increased BMI, WHR, SBP, FINS, LgHOMA-IR (P<0.01) and LDL-C (P<0.05) but lowered HDL-C (P<0.01). Fasting serum APPL1 levels were positively correlated with FPG, FINS, and HOMA-IR (r=0.215, 0.297, 0.334, P=0.014, 0.006, 0.002, respectively). In multiple linear regression analysis with APPL1 as the dependent variable, HOMA-IR (β=0.329, P=0.002) was included in the equation.

Conclusions: Patients with newly diagnosed T2DM have elevated serum APPL1 levels, suggesting the involvement of APPL1 in the development of T2DM.