Investigating the correlations between substance P, antioxidant levels, and metabolic markers in non-obese Type 2 Diabetic patients

Hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) result in complications exacerbated by oxidative stress, leading to cardiovascular, nephropathic, neuropathic, and retinopathic complications. Substance P (SP), a natural neuropeptide, inhibits cell death and enhances cell growth during oxidative or inflammatory stress, suggesting a potential role in reducing diabetic complications. The current study aimed to investigate serum levels of total antioxidant status (TAS), SP, glycemic measures, and lipid profiles in non-obese T2DM patients and evaluate the correlations involving these biomarkers in a case-control study involving eighty-five adult participants (46 males and 39 females), aged (30-60) years, and were divided into two groups; 53 non-obese T2DM patients, and 32 Apparently healthy individuals of matching age, sex and body mass index to the patients group. The results showed that patients' glucose levels increased as a percentage increase of (˃141%), mild elevated insulin levels (˃50%), higher insulin resistance (˃250%), the lipid parameters exhibited disruption comparing to the control group, in the diabetic group, the serum levels of TAS, SP decreased considerably in comparison to the control group. As evidenced by the outcomes; the TAS showed significant negative correlations with fasting serum glucose and low-density lipoprotein and positive correlations with high-density lipoprotein. Neither the glycemic indices nor the lipid profiles or TAS demonstrated any notable associations with SP levels. This suggests that while SP levels are reduced in T2DM patients, they do not appear to be directly linked with the measured biomarkers.