Abstract

Background Obesity increases the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension. We aimed to analyze the serum levels of cytokines that have relevance to the pathologies including, interleukin-4 (IL-4), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and IL-6 cytokines of overweight men with DM and/or hypertension. Methods The study collected serum from 164 men. The sample population contained, 54 overweight men without DM or hypertension (control CTL group), 36 men with both DM and hypertension (DH group), 20 men with DM but no hypertension (D group), and 54 had hypertension without DM (H). Results The main results showed that the concentration of IFN-gamma in the DH group was significantly higher than the D, H, and CTL groups, IL-6 in DH and D groups was significantly lower than the CTL group. The serum level of TGF-beta and IL-4 cytokines did not show any significant differences across the four groups. Serum levels of IL-6 were also significantly lower in untreated patients in D group than controls and in DH when compared with H groups. Conclusion In conclusion, it appears that the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines either play a significant role in the pathogenesis of hypertension and DM or serve as markers for these pathologies. Accordingly, increased serum levels of IFN-gamma may participate in the pathogenesis of hypertension in the diabetic patients and decreased IL-6 is associated with type 2 DM.