Association between triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 and flow-mediated vasodilatation in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract Background The conclusion between triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1(TREM-1)and type 2 diabetes vascular function complication was controversial. The purpose of this study is to explore the possible association between TREM-1 with flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study. 201 patients with type 2 diabetes were included. They were assigned into two groups, including the endothelial dysfunction and non-endothelial dysfunction groups, based on the results of endothelial function evaluated by FMD. Serum TREM-1 levels were detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The correlation between TREM-1 and FMD was determined by the Spearman correlation test. The relationship between TREM-1 and FMD was evaluated by univariable logistic regression. The predictive value of TREM-1 for FMD was calculated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Two-tailed P-values < 0.05 were regarded as statistically significant. Results Median serum TREM-1 amounts were markedly elevated in the endothelial dysfunction group in comparison with the non-endothelial dysfunction group (58.0pg/mol vs 33.6pg/mol, P < 0.001). Univariable logistic regression showed that the TREM-1 was associated with FMD(P < 0.05). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for Model 1 (TREM-1) was 0.66 (0.58–0.74)(P < 0.001). According to the maximum Youden index criteria, the optimal cut‐off of TREM-1 was 38.16 ng/ml, which yielded a sensitivity of 75.4% and a specificity of 54% in predicting endothelial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes. Conclusion Our results suggest that TREM-1 was negatively correlated with FMD, which further demonstrates the importance of TREM-1 in predicting the progression of type 2 diabetic vasculopathy.