Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To determine the relationship between serum lipids with albuminuria in patients with type one diabetes.

Methods: A total of 150 diabetic patients both sexes aged 41.58±11.33 years were studied. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), VLDL-cholesterol (VLDL-C), HbA_1c and renal function tests were assessed. Patients were classified as normoalbuminuric (albumin excretion rate <30 mg/24 h, n=38), microalbuminuric (albumin excretion rate 30-300 mg/24 h, n=79) and proteinuric (albumin excretion rate >300 mg/24 h, n=33).

Results: The duration of diabetes was 15.70±8.81 years. The level of TC was significantly highest in proteinuric (6.90±0.36 mmol/l), followed by microalbuminuric (5.38±1.29 mmol/l) and followed by normoalbuminuric (3.22±0.66 mmol/l), (P=0.002, P=0.0006, respectively).

Patients with proteinuria had significantly higher level of LDL-C compared to the patients with normoalbuminuria (4.14±0.95 vs 1.71±0.47 mmol/l, P=0.001). Patients with microalbuminuria had significantly higher level of LDL-C compared to the patients with normoalbuminuria (3.48±1.19 vs 1.71±0.47 mmol/l, P=0.015), as well.

The level of HbA1c in normoalbumiuric patients was significantly lower than in microalbuminuric (7.83±1.12 vs 10.40±1.59%. P=0.004).

There were no significant differences in levels of TG, HDL-C, VLDL-C between patients with normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria and proteinuria.

Conclusion: We showed that higher levels of LDL-cholesterol and TG were associated with microalbuminuria and proteinuria in patients with type 1 diabetes. Lowering atherogenic lipids may retard nephropathy progression in these patients.