Circulatory neutrophil chemokines in statin-treated diabetic patients

Objective: To assess the effect of statins on the circulatory levels of neutrophil chemokines, namely, granulocyte chemotactic protein-2 (GCP-2), growth regulated oncogene-alpha (GRO-α) and epithelial- cell-derived neutrophil-activating peptide-78 (ENA- 78) in patients with diabetes. Methods: We studied 91 diabetic patients (46 were statin-treated and 45 were not) and 28 healthy subjects. We measured the levels of GCP-2, GRO- α, and ENA-78 in the serum for the 3 groups using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. This cross-sectional study was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January 2006 to July 2007. Results: Circulating levels of GCP-2, ENA-78, and not GRO-α, were significantly higher in diabetic patients as compared to healthy subjects (p 0.05). Statins dropped the levels of both GCP-2 and GRO- a. The ENA-78 levels were not affected by statin therapy. There was no correlation between the levels of these chemokines with the body mass index and glycemia in the population studied. Conclusion: Diabetes is associated with an elevation of GCP-2 and ENA-78, and not GRO-α. Statins have a significant role in reducing the level of GCP-2.