Apolipoprotein(a) and cardiovascular disease in Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with and without diabetic nephropathy

Summary The relative mortality from cardiovascular disease is on average increased five-fold in Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy compared to non-diabetic subjects. We assessed the possible contribution of dyslipidaemia in general and elevated serum apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)) in particular. Type 2 diabetic patients with normo-, micro- and macroalbuminuria were compared with healthy subjects. Each group consisted of 37 subjects matched for age, sex and diabetes duration. Serum creatinine in the nephropathy group was 105 (54–740) mol/l. The prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (resting ECG, Minnesota, Rating Scale) was 57, 35, 19 and 2% in macro-, micro- and normoalbuminuric diabetic patients and healthy subjects, respectively. The prevalence of ischaemic heart disease was higher in all diabetic groups as compared to healthy subjects (p<0.05), and higher in macroalbuminuric as compared to normoalbuminuric diabetic patients (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between apo(a) in the four groups: 161 (10–1370), 191 (10–2080), 147 (10–942), 102 (10–1440) U/l (median (range)) in macro-, micro- and normoalbuminuric groups and healthy subjects. Serum total-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were not significantly different when comparing healthy subjects and each diabetic group. Apolipoprotein A-I was lower (p<0.05) in all diabetic groups as compared to healthy subjects (nephropathy vs healthy subjects): 1.50±0.25 vs 1.69±0.32 g/l (mean ± SD). Triglyceride was higher (p<0.05) in patients with nephropathy and microalbuminuria as compared to healthy subjects (nephropathy vs healthy subjects): 2.01 (0.66–14.7) vs 1.09 (0.41–2.75) mmol/l (median (range)). Apolipoprotein B was higher (p<0.02) in patients with nephropathy as compared to the other three groups (nephropathy vs healthy subjects): 1.54±0.47 vs 1.33±0.30 g/l. In conclusion, our case-control study has confirmed that Type 2 diabetic patients with increased urinary albumin excretion frequently suffer from dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular disease. However, our study revealed no significant elevation in serum concentration of apo(a) in patients with diabetic nephropathy, but numbers were small.