Abstract:To investigate the correlations of fetuin-A (FA) level with insulin resistance (IR) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2DM). Methods One hundred cases of nT2DM patients were selected as experimental group (T2DM group) while 100 people with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) as control group (NGT group). Serum FA level was measured by a commercial solidphase ELISA kit. The estimation of IR was calculated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR). CIMT was measured by color B-mode ultrasound. The correlations of serum fetuin-A level with the metabolic parameters were also analyzed. Results The serum FA level in the T2DM group was significantly higher than that in the NGT group [(368.5 ±15.6) vs (152.7 ±7.1) mg/ml,p = 0.000]. Serum FA level was positively correlated with HOMA-IR (r =0.483,p = 0.000), CIMT (r = 0.509,p = 0.000), glycated hemoglobin (r = 0.153, p= 0.042), triglyceride (r = 0.353,p=0.000)low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.113,p = 0.023), body mass index (r = 0.162,p = 0.024),systolic blood pressure (r = 0.182, p= 0.035), fasting plasma glucose (r = 0.422, p= 0.002) and 2-h post-glucose load blood glucose (r = 0.581,p = 0.000); but negatively correlated with fasting plasma insulin (r = -0.153, p= 0.008), 2-h plasma insulin after glucose load (r = -0.423,p = 0.008), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.183,p= 0.011) and HOMA-β-cell insulin secretion index (r = -0.463, p= 0.000). Conclusions The study demonstrated that serum FA level is correlated with IR and CIMT in patients with nT2DM. Therefore, serum FA level can be used as an independent marker in the diagnosis of macroangiopathies in patients with nT2DM.