α-2-macroglobulin in saliva is associated with glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

© 2015 Juan Pablo Aitken et al.Background. Subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) require an adequate glycemic control to avoid diabetic complications. Currently, saliva biomarkers are used as a diagnostic tool and can be indicative of the degree of progression and control of various diseases. Several studies indicate that α-2-macroglobulin levels are elevated in diabetic patients. Methods. 120 subjects with DM2 were enrolled and classified into two groups according to their glycemic control (percentage of glycated hemoglobin-A1c (HbA1c), &lt;7% adequate glycemic control group; &gt;7% inadequate glycemic control group). The relationship between α-2-macroglobulin levels from saliva samples and HbA1c was subsequently evaluated. Results. We found a positive correlation between α-2-macroglobulin and HbA1c (r=0.778 and P&lt;0.0001). Area under the receivers operating characteristic (ROC) curve of α-2-macroglobulin indicated a positive discrimination threshold of α-2-macroglobulin (AUC = 0.903, CI 95%: 0.847–0.959, 𝑃 < 0.0001) to diagnose glycemic control. Conclusions. Our data strongly suggest that the level of saliva 𝛼-2-macroglobulin is an indicator for the degree of glycemic control in diabetic patients and represents a promising alternative method to evaluate this parameter.