Research advance in correlations between fibroblast growth factor-21 and occurrence as well as development of vascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes(T2DM) is a common chronic metabolic disease, and its chronic complications, especially vascular complications, are the main damages of T2DM. Fibroblast growth factor-21(FGF-21) is a newly discovered metabolism regulator, which is considered to be closely linked to the development of T2DM and its complications. We summarized relevant studies about FGF-21 in vascular and macrovascular complications of T2DM. The role of FGF-21 as a biomarker or therapeutic target for vascular complications of T2DM requires further investigations, and its application in predicting vascular complications of T2DM has significant value.