Background: The Fas/Fas ligand system is a key regulating system responsible for the activation of apoptosis in various cell types, including cellular constituents of the vessel wall. Few data about the soluble forms of Fas (sFas) and Fas-ligand (sFas-L) in patients with type 2 diabetes are available, and they did not focus on atherosclerosis in these patients.
Objective: Evaluation of sFas and sFas-L, involved in apoptosis, as markers of coronary artery disease or related to hypertension in type 2 diabetic patients.
Methods: 40 type 2 diabetic patients (16 with hypertension, 13 with stable and 11 with unstable angina pectoris) were studied. Serum concentrations of sFas, sFas-L were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: sFas was significantly higher in the patients with unstable angina than that in patients with stable angina (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the concentrations of s Fas-L between the two groups (p = 0.26). sFas was significantly higher (p = 0.023) and sFas-L was significantly lower in hypertensive than in normotensive patients (p = 0.83)
Conclusion: sFas is an important serological marker that may help to discriminate between stable and unstable angina. Fas-mediated apoptosis is involved in type 2 diabetes and might be associated with hypertension and/or its vascular consequences.