APLN and diabetes mellitus: Apelin levels showed significantly negative correlation with diabetes duration, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, creatinine and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).