# Correlation of Serum Growth Differentiation Factor 15 With Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

## TL;DR

This study finds that higher levels of a protein called GDF15 are linked to metabolic syndrome in people with type 2 diabetes, suggesting it could help in diagnosis.

## Contribution

The study identifies GDF15 as a potential biomarker for diagnosing type 2 diabetes combined with metabolic syndrome.

## Key findings

- GDF15 levels were significantly higher in patients with T2DM and metabolic syndrome compared to those with T2DM alone.
- GDF15 was positively correlated with metabolic syndrome components like blood pressure, BMI, and triglycerides.
- GDF15 showed diagnostic value with an AUC of 0.793 for T2DM combined with metabolic syndrome.

## Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the association between serum growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) and metabolic syndrome (MS), as well as its components in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Data on 125 patients with T2DM admitted to the Department of Endocrinology of the Second People′s Hospital of Hefei City between August 2022 and June 2023 were retrospectively collected. According to the diagnostic criteria of MS, the patients were divided into two groups: T2DM alone (67 cases) and T2DM combined with MS (58 cases). General conditions and laboratory indicators of the patients were collected to analyze the correlation of GDF15 expression in T2DM and combined MS.

The GDF15 level in the T2DM with MS group was higher than that in the T2DM group (p < 0.001); specifically, the median (interquartile range) of GDF15 in the T2DM with MS group was 494.86 (355.72, 925.77) pg/mL, compared with 266.47 (174.49, 405.09) pg/mL in the T2DM alone group. Serum GDF15 was used as a grouping variable, and the prevalence of MS increased as GDF15 levels increased. Correlation analysis showed that GDF15 was found to be positively correlated (p < 0.05) with systolic blood pressure (r = 0.274), body mass index (r = 0.239), uric acid (r = 0.182), triglycerides (r = 0.314), and MS prevalence (r = 0.506). Binary logistic regression results showed that GDF15 was a statistically independent risk factor for T2DM combined with MS (p < 0.05). The diagnostic value of GDF15 for T2DM with MS was validated by ROC curve analysis (AUC [95%CI] = 0.793 [0.716–0.870], p < 0.001) with an optimal cut‐off value of 395.81 pg/mL, a sensitivity of 71%, and a specificity of 73%.

Serum GDF15 is strongly correlated with T2DM combined with MS and its components, and elevated GDF15 is valuable for the diagnosis of T2DM combined with MS.