Increased arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction are associated with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Leucine-rich-α2-glycoprotein (LRG1) is a proangiogenic factor involved in regulation of the TGFβ signaling pathway.

This study in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus explored the associations of plasma LRG1 with arterial stiffness, endothelial function, and PAD.

Based on the ankle brachial index (ABI), patients were classified as having PAD (ABI ≤ 0.9) or as being borderline abnormal (ABI, 0.91–0.99) or normal (ABI, 1.00–1.40). LRG1 was measured by immunoassay; arterial stiffness, by carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity and augmentation index; and endothelial function, by laser Doppler flowmetry.

A total of 2058 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited. Mean age (1 SD) was 57.4 (0.2) years. Patients with PAD (n = 258) had significantly higher LRG1 compared to patients with borderline ABI and patients without PAD (19.00 [13.50] vs 17.35 [13.30] and 15.28 [10.40] μg/mL, respectively; P < .0001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that female gender (P < .0001), non-Chinese ethnicity (P < .0001), higher waist circumference (P = .017), lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (P < .0001), higher urine albumin-creatinine ratio (P = .009), lower ABI (P < .0001), higher pulse wave velocity (P = .040), and poorer endothelium-dependent vasodilation (P = .007) were independent significant predictors of higher plasma LRG1 levels. A generalized linear model showed that a 1-SD increase in log LRG1 was associated with an odds ratio of 4.072 (95% confidence interval, 1.889–8.777; P < .0001) for prevalence of PAD, after adjustment for traditional risk factors.

Higher LRG1 is a significant predictor for arterial stiffness, endothelial function, and PAD. The pathobiological basis and the temporal relationships of these associations need to be explored by further mechanistic and prospective studies to understand the clinical significance of these findings.