Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aims: Plasminogen activator inhibitor -1 (PAI-1) increases in diabetes and this might contribute to decreased fibrinolisis and accelerated atherosclerosis. PAI-1 is also contributor to the development of acute myocardial infarction. Measurement of intimal medial thickening (IMT) is indicator of presence and extent of coronary artery disease. Aim of the study was to find association between PAI-1 marker of decreased fibrinolisis and atherosclerosis by measuring IMT of carotid artery in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Materials and methods: Investigation was performed in 49 patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (53.83±8.38 years; 24 f/25 m, BMI: 27.82±4.79 kg/m²) and 30 healthy controls (46.87±11.42 years; 12 f/18 m, BMI: 26.01±2.39 kg/m²). PAI-1 was measured by spectrophotometric method using commercialy kit (Behring). The IMT in common carotid arteries was measured on a longitudinal scan of the common carotid arteries at a point 10 mm proximal from the beginning of the dilatation of the bifurcation bulb. We defined the IMT as mean IMT of the near and far walls at the point of measurement.

Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus showed higher concentrations of PAI-1 (3.03±1.02 vs 2.67±0.53 μ/ml; P>0.05). In the group of patients type 2 diabetes we found significant positive correlation between PAI-1 and IMT (ρ=0.535; P<0.01), while in group of nondiabetics there was no statisticly significant correlation (ρ=0.030; P>0.05).

Conclusions: In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the level of PAI-1 in diabetes mellitus type 2 correlates with the degree of IMT and also that PAI-1 is an useful marker for detecting early atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.