Both vascular endothelial growth factor and soluble Flt-1 are increased in type 2 diabetes but not in impaired fasting glucose

Objective: Inadequate vascular remodeling is contributory to increased cardiovascular events in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its regulatory molecule soluble Flt-1(sFlt-1) play important roles in atherogenesis. Research Design: We measured fasting plasma concentrations of VEGF and sFlt-1 in 11 nondiabetic (ND) (aged 46.1 ± 2.1 years; body mass index [BMI], 26.1 ± 0.9 kg/m²; glucose, 5.0 ± 0.1 mM), 15 IFG (aged 52.9 ± 1.8 years; BMI, 32.7 ± 1.3 kg/m²; glucose, 6.4 ± 0.1 mM), and 8 DM (aged 55.8 ± 3.2 years; BMI, 30.0 ± 1.0 kg/m²; glucose, 9.3 ± 0.5 mM) subjects. Results: Plasma VEGF (42.1 ± 4.0 vs 24.2 ± 0.9 vs 29.4 ± 3.8 pg/mL, respectively) and sFlt-1 (119.4 ± 4.9 vs 58.9 ± 3.2 vs 56.7 ± 1.2 pg/mL, respectively) concentrations were higher (P < 0.04) in DM than IFG and ND subjects. Whereas VEGF concentrations were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in IFG than in ND subjects, sFlt-1 concentrations did not differ between the IFG and ND subjects. Conclusions: Although plasma VEGF concentrations were higher (35%) in DM than in ND subjects, VEGF action on vascular remodeling was likely attenuated by higher sFlt-1 concentrations in DM. In contrast, IFG subjects did not have major perturbations in either VEGF or sFlt-1 levels. Further studies defining the roles of these mediators in DM and IFG are necessary to extend these observations.