Cellular fibronectin as a biomarker for assessing endothelial function in diabetic patients

Background: Retinopathy and neuropathy are major chronic complications of diabetes mellitus as result of poor glycaemic control. Cellular fibronectin is derived from an endothelium of the blood vessel, it plays role in sub endothelial matrix assembly. Increased in cellular fibronectin in the plasma is associated with injury to the endothelium of blood vessels. Aim of the study: Is to evaluate the plasma levels of cellular fibronectin in diabetic patients. Materials and methods: Cellular fibronectin was determined in one hundred (100) diabetic subjects and one hundred (100) non-diabetic subjects using sandwich Enzyme-Linked immunosorbent Assay. While (45%) of the diabetic subjects were males, (55%) were females, (48%) of the non-diabetic subjects were males and (52%) were females. However, out of (45) of the diabetic male subjects, 20(44%) present with erectile dysfunction and 25% of the diabetic subjects have blurred vision. Approval of the study was obtained from the Ethics and Research Committee of the Specialist Hospital, Sokoto. Results: Cellular fibronectin was elevated in diabetic subjects (31.21±1.62mg/L) compared with non-diabetic subjects (13.19±1.20mg/L). Cellular fibronectin was elevated in diabetic subjects with erectile dysfunction (49.00±3.76mg/L) compared to diabetic with no erectile dysfunction (32.20±2.31mg/L).Cellular fibronectin was also elevated in diabetic subjects with blurred vision (45.52±3.32mg/L) compared to diabetic subjects with no blurred vision (34.00±1.91mg/L). Conclusion: Determination of plasma level of cellular fibronectin in diabetic subjects could be useful as an adjunct in predicting early vascular complication in diabetic patients.