Platelet Derived Growth Factor-A mRNA Levels in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Subjects at Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the number one cause of death in developed countries. We investigated the quantity of platelet derived growth factor-A mRNA (PDGF-A mRNA) among four different groups of diabetic and nondiabetic Saudi subjects (n = 40) at risk of CHD. Total RNA was derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMN) and PDGF-A mRNA reverse transcribed into cDNA in the presence of internal standard (cRNA) and amplified by competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (cRT-PCR). The gel was silver stained after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and PDGF-A mRNA quantitated by scanning densitometry. We demonstrate a significantly high expression of PDGF-A mRNA in hyperlipidaemic and diabetic subjects (41 ± 4 × 10⁴ copies/µg of RNA) compared to normal healthy individuals (29.3 ± 5 × 10⁴ copies/µg of RNA). These findings suggest an important role of PDGF-A mRNA in progression of CHD among diabetics.