Serum adiponectin and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in patients with diabetic foot ulcers: a retrospective cohort study on the evaluation of disease severity and prognosis.

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed serum Adiponectin (APN) and Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (sICAM-1) levels in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) patients for evaluating disease severity and prognosis.

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort study, 92 DFU patients were assessed during a 6-month outcome evaluation period and categorized by ulcer healing into good prognosis (healed, n = 50) or poor prognosis (unhealed, n = 42). Serum APN and sICAM-1 levels were measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and and analyzed for correlations with disease severity and infection grades. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves evaluated their predictive value for poor prognosis.

RESULTS

Serum APN was negatively correlated with infection and disease severity, whereas sICAM-1 exhibited a positive correlation. The good prognosis group had significantly higher APN and lower sICAM-1 levels compared to the poor prognosis group. Both biomarkers predicted poor prognosis: APN (Area Under the Curve (AUC) = 0.765), sICAM-1 (AUC = 0.841). Combining both markers yielded an AUC of 0.853.

CONCLUSION

Serum APN and sICAM-1 levels are associated with DFU severity and prognosis, supporting their potential as predictive biomarkers in clinical practice.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.