Relaxin expression correlates significantly with serum fibrinogen variation in response to antidiabetic treatment in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aim. Diabetes is associated with aberrant coagulation. Relaxin, an insulin-like peptide hormone, is a candidate to be involved in the underlying molecular mechanisms. Therefore, the present study investigated the correlation of relaxin expression with fibrinogen levels in diabetes patients undergoing oral antidiabetic treatment.Method. In total, 192 type 2 diabetes patients were enrolled into the study. The patients were randomized to receive either pioglitazone or glimepiride for 26 weeks. Blood was drawn at baseline and at the end of the study to measure the concentrations of relaxin and fibrinogen with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a turbimetric method, respectively. In addition, platelets were counted at both time points.Results. Total datasets were available from 161 patients (age 62.5 ± 8.1 years, mean ± standard deviation; 58 women, 103 men). The median initial parameter concentrations were: relaxin, 27.4 pg/ml (range 0.4 – 380 pg/ml); fibrinogen, 3.0 g/l (range 1.1 – 7.9 g/l); platelets...