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R Nosadini

Publications and source records attributed to R Nosadini.

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Relationships among microalbuminuria, insulin resistance and renal-cardiac complications in insulin dependent and non insulin dependent diabetes.

A rate of albumin excretion rate above 20 micrograms/min is a predicting factor of overt nephropathy in Type I diabetes. It has not yet been established whether this is the case also for Type II diabetes, where microalbuminuria is antecedent to general and cardiovascular mortality but not to end-stage renal disease. The reasons accounting for this discrepancy between Type I and Type II diabetes have not been fully elucidated. In principle two different hypotheses can be postulated to explain these findings. Firstly it can be suggested that overt proteinuria is not detected with similar incidence rates in microalbuminuric patients with the two types of diseases because Type II diabetics are older and more prone to develop cardiovascular events. Therefore these patients would die frequently before developing overt proteinuria not because microalbuminuria is not a predicting factor of End-stage Renal Disease, but rather because the follow-up period is not long enough to monitor the patients till the very moment they develop renal complications. Alternatively it is possible that microalbuminuria reflect a systemic, endothelial and vascular disorder rather than glomerular structural abnormalities in these patients. We have recently described a clustering of clinical features encompassing microalbuminuria, hypertension, peripheral extrahepatic insulin resistance, renal and cardiac hypertrophy and altered cation membrane transport systems, not in the overall Type II diabetic population, but only in a cohort of these patients. Evidences in keeping with a strict association between insulin resistance, hypertension and microalbuminuria in a subgroup of Type II diabetic patients have been recently reported by several authors both in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. However the hypothesis that microalbuminuria reflects a systemic endothelial and vascular disorder in Type II diabetic patients, does not rule out the possibility that these systemic disturbances are also associated with histologic abnormalities of the kidney. With regard to the characteristics of renal histology in Type II diabetic patients with and without microalbuminuria, preliminary data from our laboratory demonstrate that there is no evidence of any renal disorder other than diabetes in microalbuminuric Type II diabetic patients. More particularly in this subset of patients we observed typical features of diabetic nephropathology (glomerular, tubulo-interstitial and arteriolar changes), while a substantial number of patients with increased albumin excretion rate exhibited either marked tubulo-interstitial lesions or arteriolar hyalinosis or both, in absence of significant glomerular changes. These findings suggest that it is not true that Type II diabetic patients with microalbuminuria show quite often normal renal histology, but rather than hyperglycemia may cause different patterns of renal injury as compared to Type I Diabetes. Furthermore always with regard to renal histology, it has been pointed out that in Type I diabetes glomerulopathy (especially mesangial) is the crucial change, whereas recent studies found considerable structural heterogeneity amongst proteinuric Type II diabetic patients with relatively high incidence of renal diseases other than diabetes. However parallel studies in a small group of micromacroalbuminuric Type II diabetic patients reported the typical glomerular changes, usually shown by Type I diabetic patients with similar patterns of renal damage. The issue of the relationships between microalbuminuria, hypertension and the development of overt nephropathy in Type II diabetes has been also examined in Pima Indians. The clinical scenario found in these patients does closely resemble that of Caucasian Type I diabetic patients.

Albuminuria↗

Intracellular free calcium abnormalities in fibroblasts from non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients with and without arterial hypertension.

As arterial hypertension is frequently associated with diabetes, it is possible that altered intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) handling, as reported in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients, is accounted for by abnormalities caused by hypertension rather than diabetes. Our aim was to investigate [Ca2+]i transients triggered by two extracellular agonists, bradykinin and angiotensin II, with or without chronic insulin exposure, in cultured skin fibroblasts from 10 normotensive and 10 hypertensive non-insulin-dependent patients, matched for age, body mass index, and metabolic control, with fibroblasts from 10 healthy control subjects. Long-term cultured fibroblasts were loaded with fura 2-AM for measurement of [Ca2+]i. Resting [Ca2+]i levels were similar in the three groups of subjects. [Ca2+]i spikes stimulated by angiotensin II (0.1 mumol/L) and bradykinin (1 mumol/L) were significantly greater in hypertensive non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (216 +/- 43 and 374 +/- 39 nmol/L, respectively) than in normotensive patients (174 +/- 16 and 267 +/- 55 nmol/L) and control subjects (188 +/- 29 and 320 +/- 78 nmol/L). Also, ionomycin evoked a greater [Ca2+]i response in hypertensive than normotensive non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients and in control subjects. Chronic insulin exposure increased by 70% to 90% the [Ca2+]i response to both angiotensin II and bradykinin in control subjects and normotensive non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients but not in hypertensive patients. The presence of abnormalities in [Ca2+]i transients in fibroblasts from only hypertensive non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients supports the possibility that these defects are a feature of concomitant arterial hypertension rather than of diabetes or its disturbed metabolic milieu.

Aged↗

Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of nitrendipine in reducing both pressure and left ventricular mass in hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of nitrendipine in comparison with captopril in hypertensive diabetic patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 75 patients enrolled in this study presented stable type 2 diabetes (not treated with insulin) and mild-to-moderate hypertension with a left ventricular mass > or = 75 g/m2 by two-dimensional echocardiography. After a 4-week washout period, 38 patients were assigned to treatment with captopril, and 37 patients to nitrendipine (random allocation). The duration of follow-up was 36 weeks. RESULTS: Patients of both groups were similar with regard to the duration of diabetes and hypertension, systolic and diastolic blood pressure at rest, degree of LVH, metabolic control, and albumin excretion rate (AER). Both drugs were equally effective in reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure (captopril: from 165 +/- 13/100 +/- 4 to 147 +/- 11/87 +/- 4 mmHg; nitrendipine: from 167 +/- 17/100 +/- 5 to 143 +/- 9/86 +/- 4 mmHg; P < 0.05) and in reversing LVH (nitrendipine: from 87 +/- 2 to 81 +/- 1 g/m2; captopril: from 89 +/- 2 to 85 +/- 2 g/m2; P = 0.0001). Neither the left ventricular end-diastolic volume index nor the left ventricular ejection fraction changed significantly during the treatment period. CONCLUSION: Nitrendipine is as effective as captopril in reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and in reversing LVH. Neither drug showed any negative side effects on fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, and both maintain constant AERs.

Adult↗

Renal structure and function in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients with microalbuminuria.

We have recently described heterogeneity in renal structure in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (NIDDM) with microalbuminuria (MA; defined as albumin excretion rate from 20 to 200 micrograms/min). Thus, at variance with IDDM patients, "typical" diabetic glomerulopathy by light microscopy is observed only in a third of NIDDM with MA (Category II, CII). Further, despite persistent MA, 30% of NIDDM have normal or near normal renal structure (Category I, CI). Another one-third shows "atypical" patterns of renal injury with absent or mild diabetic glomerular changes, associated with disproportionately severe tubulointerstitial lesions and/or arteriolar hyalinosis and global glomerular sclerosis (Category III, CIII). The aims of this study were to evaluate whether similar patterns of renal lesions could be confirmed in a larger group of NIDDM with MA and to investigate tubular function in order to understand the mechanisms underlying MA in NIDDM patients. Renal biopsies were performed in 53 NIDDM with MA. Categories I, II and III were found in 41%, 26% and 33% of NIDDM with MA, respectively. All 8 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy were in CII. We also studied the urinary daily excretion rate of alpha 1-microglobulin (alpha 1 m), a low molecular weight protein, which is a useful indicator of tubular function. alpha 1 m was markedly increased only in CII patients (CI vs. CII vs. CIII: 6.2 +/- 1.2 vs. 13.7 +/- 2.1 vs. 7.3 +/- 0.9 mg/day, ANOVA, P < 0.01). In conclusion, we confirm that there is heterogeneity in renal structure in NIDDM patients with MA. This heterogeneity is not due to renal diseases other than diabetes. Increased alpha 1 m and proliferative retinopathy are useful indicators of the subgroup of MA NIDDM patients with typical diabetic glomerulopathy. It is suggested that diabetic microangiopathy explains the simultaneous occurrence of typical diabetic glomerulopathy, proliferative retinopathy and tubular dysfunction in a subgroup of NIDDM patients with MA.

Albuminuria↗

Abnormal Na+/H+ antiport activity in cultured fibroblasts from NIDDM patients with hypertension and microalbuminuria.

An increased activity of Na+/H+ antiport has been reported in leukocytes and fibroblasts from insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients with nephropathy. To test whether a similar abnormality is present in fibroblasts from non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients with microalbuminuria and hypertension, we examined intracellular pHi and Na+/H+ antiport activity, using the pH sensitive dye 2', 7'-bis (2-carboxyethyl-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF), in cultured skin fibroblasts obtained from 34 NIDDM patients, divided into four groups based upon whether they had microalbuminuria or hypertension, or both: Group 1, nine NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria and hypertension. Group 2, nine NIDDM patients with hypertension and normal albumin excretion rate. Group 3, seven NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria and normal blood pressure. Group 4, nine NIDDM patients with normal blood pressure and normal albumin excretion rate. Nine normal subjects served as control group. Resting pHi was more alkaline in fibroblasts from Group 1 (7.22 +/- 0.03; p < 0.05), Group 2 (7.21 +/- 0.02; p < 0.05) and Group 3 (7.19 +/- 0.02, p = 0.17) than in Group 4 and normal subjects. This was due to higher Vmax values of Na+/H+ antiport activity in cultured fibroblasts from Group 1 (52.1 +/- 5.3 mmol H+/min; p < 0.05), Group 2 (57.7 +/- 8.3; p < 0.05) and Group 3 (60.6 +/- 7.4, p < 0.05) than those from Group 4 (31.2 +/- 3.6) or control subjects (31.3 +/- 3.5). The intracellular pH for half-maximal activation, Hill coefficient and buffering power capacity was similar in all the groups. These data suggest that in vitro phenotypic abnormalities of long-term cultured fibroblasts from NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria and/ or hypertension are likely to be, at least in part, independent of the degree of metabolic control in vivo and to be an intrinsic feature of these cells.

Albuminuria↗

Patterns of renal injury in NIDDM patients with microalbuminuria.

Microalbuminuria predicts overt nephropathy in non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients; however, the structural basis for this functional abnormality is unknown. In this study we evaluated renal structure and function in a cohort of 34 unselected microalbuminuric NIDDM patients (26 male/8 female, age: 58 +/- 7 years, known diabetes duration: 11 +/- 6 years, HbA1c: 8.5 +/- 1.6%). Systemic hypertension was present in all but 3. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was 101 +/- 27 ml.min-1.1.73 m-2 and albumin excretion rate (AER) 44 (20-199) micrograms/ min. Light microscopic slides were categorized as: C I) normal or near normal renal structure; C II) changes "typical" of diabetic nephropathology in insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM) (glomerular, tubulo-interstitial and arteriolar changes occurring in parallel); C III) "atypical" patterns of injury, with absent or only mild diabetic glomerular changes associated with disproportionately severe renal structural changes including: important tubulo-interstitial with or without arteriolar hyalinosis with or without global glomerular sclerosis. Ten patients (29.4%) were classified as C I, 10 as C II (29.4%) and 14 as C III (41.2%); none of these patients had any definable non-diabetic renal disease. GFR, AER and blood pressure were similar in the three groups, while HbA1c was higher in C II and C III than in C I patients. Diabetic retinopathy was present in all C II patients (background in 50% and proliferative in 50%). None of the patients in C I and C III had proliferative retinopathy, while background retinopathy was observed in 50% of C I and 57% of C III patients. In summary, microalbuminuric NIDDM patients are structurally heterogeneous with less than one third having "typical" diabetic nephropathology. The presence of both "typical" and "atypical" patterns of renal pathology was associated with worse metabolic control, suggesting that hyperglycaemia may cause different patterns of renal injury in older NIDDM compared to younger IDDM patients.

Aged↗

Intracellular calcium handling by fibroblasts from non-insulin dependent diabetic patients with and without hypertension and microalbuminuria.

Intracellular calcium ([(Ca2+)i]) plays a role in many cellular functions, and is involved in the pathogenesis of some conditions observed in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients (NIDDM), such as hypertension and insulin resistance. Hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia are also implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic diabetes complications. It is not clear whether disturbances in [(Ca2+)i] are accounted for only by metabolic abnormalities of diabetes or by other mechanisms. The aim of this study was to investigate [(Ca2+)i] handling by skin fibroblasts in NIDDM patients with similar features regarding diabetes duration and metabolic control, but who differ concerning blood pressure levels and albumin excretion rate. Using a fluorimetric technique with the indicator Fura-2/ AM, we investigated the effect of chronic exposure to insulin and glucose on [(Ca2+)i] after FGF stimulation in fibroblasts from NIDDM with hypertension alone (NIDDM H+M-) and with hypertension and microalbuminuria (NIDDM H+M+) in comparison with normotensive normoalbuminuric NIDDM (NIDDM H-M-) and control subjects (C). We studied also a group of hypertensive non-diabetic subjects (HYPER). We found that (1) FGF increases [(Ca2+)i] in all subjects; (2) insulin or high glucose per se increase [(Ca2+)i] in NIDDM H+M+ and NIDDM H+M- with respect to NIDDM H-M- and C; (3) HYPER show a [(Ca2+)i] response similar to that of NIDDM H+M- and NIDDM H+M+; (4) when stimuli are combined, all NIDDM have altered [(Ca2+)i] with respect to C, but NIDDM H+M-, NIDDM H+M+ and HYPER have higher values than NIDDM H-M-. This disorder in [(Ca2+)i] appears to be an intrinsic feature of a subgroup of hypertensive NIDDM patients, which persists in cultured cells, at least partially independent of the metabolic challenge of diabetes in vivo, and could contribute to the development of their renal and cardiovascular complications.

Albuminuria↗

Enhanced effects of insulin and angiotensin II on intracellular pH and free cytosolic calcium in fibroblasts from microalbuminuric patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

1. Whether an alteration in cell membrane cation transport after exposure to insulin and angiotensin II (two important growth promoters that have been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and hypertension) is present in cells from non-insulin-dependent diabetes patients with microalbuminuria, a known risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease, is unknown. We therefore examined intracellular pH and calcium changes after acute exposure to insulin and angiotensin II in cultured skin fibroblasts from eight non-insulin-dependent diabetes patients with and eight others without microalbuminuria and from a group of seven matched, normal control subjects. 2. Cultured fibroblasts were loaded with 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein acetoxymethyl ester or fura 2-acetoxymethyl ester for continuous monitoring of intracellular pH and free calcium concentrations respectively. 3. In quiescent growth-arrested cells, both intracellular pH and free calcium concentrations were similar in the three groups of subjects. Acutely, insulin induced a gradual alkalinization in all groups of patients. The pH increase was significantly greater in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients with microalbuminuria (delta pH +0.24 +/- 0.04 pH units) than in normoalbuminuric patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (0.08 +/- 0.02; P < 0.01) and normal control subjects (0.05 +/- 0.01; P < 0.01). Although the alkalinizing effect of angiotensin II was smaller than that obtained by insulin, intracellular pH increase after angiotensin addition was more pronounced in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients with microalbuminuria (delta pH +0.14 +/- 0.04 pH units) than in those without (0.08 +/- 0.02; P < 0.01) and in normal control subjects (0.02 +/- 0.02; P < 0.01). That the increase in intracellular pH was mediated by the sodium-hydrogen antiport was demonstrated by its dependence on the presence of sodium in the medium and its inhibition by amiloride. Whereas insulin addition did not evoke any significant increase in intracellular free calcium levels in fibroblasts from the three groups studied, angiotensin II evoked a fast and transient rise in intracellular free calcium that was higher in fibroblasts from microalbuminuric patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus than in cells from normoalbuminuric patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and control subjects. In the whole population of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the increase in intracellular pH after exposure to angiotensin II was positively correlated with intracellular free calcium increase (r = 0.53; P < 0.05), suggesting a possible role of intracellular free calcium levels in the activation of the sodium-hydrogen antiport. 4. In conclusion, we have described an association between increased agonist-induced responsiveness of sodium-hydrogen antiport activity and the presence of microalbuminuria in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. This increased responsiveness, persisting in cultured fibroblasts after several passages in vitro, suggests that in vitro phenotypic characteristics of fibroblasts are likely to be genetically determined and to be, at least in part, independent of the degree of metabolic control in vivo.

Aged↗

Plasma clearance rate of 51Cr-EDTA provides a precise and convenient technique for measurement of glomerular filtration rate in diabetic humans.

It has not yet been fully clarified whether the plasma or renal clearance approach is the most reliable to investigate GFR in humans. The study presented here aimed to compare plasma decay with renal clearance of 51Cr-EDTA in 27 diabetic patients with patterns of renal function broadly dispersed in a wide range of values. Moreover, the comparison was also performed with renal clearance of nonlabeled iothalamate in a subgroup of 17 patients. A biexponential function was found to fulfill statistical and heuristic criteria for the modeling analysis of plasma 51Cr-EDTA decay with 19 samples after bolus intravenous 51Cr-EDTA injection. Individual GFR values from 51Cr-EDTA plasma clearance highly correlated with those from renal clearance (r2 = 0.977, P < 0.0001), but resulted on average about 2.5 mL.min-1.1.73 m-2 higher (66.8 +/- 6.5 mL.min-1.1.73 m-2 (mean +/- SE) versus 64.3 +/- 6.4, P < 0.02). This difference remained relatively constant from patients with normal renal function to those with impaired renal function, suggesting that the plasma clearance is slightly less accurate than renal clearance approach because of a constant extrarenal clearance rate. In the subgroup studied, a similar difference was found between GFR values from 51Cr-EDTA plasma clearance (84.7 +/- 7.3) and renal clearance of iothalamate (82.8 +/- 7.3), although not statistically significant (P = 0.4). Individual GFR values well correlated (r2 = 0.913, P < 0.0001). The precision and reproducibility of the experimental approaches were assessed by comparing three coefficients of variation: (1) CVb of the bolus injection, because of measurement errors; (2) CVc of the continuous infusion, which additionally includes errors of urine volume measurement and physiological variability in the same day; and (3) CVr of repeated measurements by using bolus injection, which also accounts for physiological variability in different days. CVc of iothalamate and 51Cr-EDTA infusions were 7.5 +/- 1.9% and 7.4 +/- 1.2% respectively. CVb and CVr of bolus injection of 51Cr-EDTA were 2.6 +/- 0.3% and 3.5 +/- 0.8% respectively. CVb and CVr of bolus injection of 51Cr-EDTA, but not CVc of iothalamate and 51Cr-EDTA infusions were twofold to tenfold lower than the percent yearly change reported in IDDM and NIDDM patients. More particularly, CVr was significantly less than CVc. In order to make the test less cumbersome, a reduced sampling schedule with seven samples was designed and validated. GFR measured with seven samples was 66.1 +/- 6.4 (P = 0.1 when compared with the full 19-sample schedule) with a CVb of 3.5 +/- 0.5%. This seven-sample protocol was not different from that obtained with the previously described simplified method of Brøchner-Mortensen (63.9 +/- 6.8, P = 0.16), yet yielding a statistically more accurate estimate (coefficient of variation for Brøchner-Mortensen method = 12.1 +/- 2.9, P = 0.004). Moreover, only bolus injection, along with modeling analysis of plasma clearance rate, allows the accurate measurement of the extracellular fluid volume, an important parameter in diabetic patients. It was concluded that the reduced seven-plasma sample protocol is able to detect as small as 4 to 5% changes per year in a single patient. Moreover, it provides precise and accurate estimate of GFR in diabetic patients with hyperfiltration, who are postulated to be at higher risk to develop renal damage.

Chromium Radioisotopes↗

Effects of cilazapril and amlodipine on kidney function in hypertensive NIDDM patients.

Contrasting information has been reported concerning the course of renal function in NIDDM with hypertension alone or in association with renal damage. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the course of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in hypertensive NIDDM patients during antihypertensive therapy. Furthermore, we compared the effects of ACE inhibitors (cilazapril, Inibace, Roche, Milan, Italy) and Ca(2+)-channel blockers (amlodipine, Norvasc, Pfizer, Rome, Italy). Of the hypertensive NIDDM patients attending the outpatient's clinic of the internal medicine departments of the University of Padova and Sassari, 44 participated in the present study. Of these patients, 26 were normoalbuminuric and 18 microalbuminuric. They were randomly treated with either cilazapril or amlodipine. The target of antihypertensive treatment was a value < 140 mmHg for systolic and 85 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure (BP). Microalbuminuria was defined as an albumin excretion rate (AER) between 20 and 200 micrograms/min. GFR was measured by plasma clearance of 51Cr-labeled EDTA at baseline and every 6-12 months during a 3-year follow-up interval. A significant decrease was observed in the values of GFR, AER, and systolic and diastolic BP in normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients during antihypertensive therapy. The GFR fall in the overall population of NIDDM patients was significantly and inversely related to the decrease of mean BP (diastolic + 1/3 pulse pressure) (r = -0.80, P < 0.0001) but not to that of HbA1c, triglycerides, and BMI. The GFR decline (mean +/- SE) per year in the normoalbuminuric patient was 2.03 +/- 0.66 ml.min-1 x 1.73 m-2 (95% CI 0.92-3.17) during cilazapril and 2.01 +/- 0.71 ml.min-1 x 1.73 m-2 (95% CI 0.82-3.11) during amlodipine therapy. The GFR decline per year in the microalbuminuric patient was 2.15 +/- 0.69 ml.min-1 x 1.73 m-2 (95% CI 0.86-3.89) during cilazapril and 2.33 +/- 0.83 ml.min-1 x 1.73 m-2 per year (95% CI 1.03-3.67) during amlodipine therapy. Cilazapril and amlodipine lowered AER to a similar extent in normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients. No significant changes were observed concerning other clinical and biochemical features between the two antihypertensive therapies and particularly HbA1c, BMI, triglycerides, and cholesterol plasma values. These results support the tenet that arterial hypertension plays a pivotal role in contributing to renal damage in NIDDM, even when AER is normal. However, the degree of BP control, with both cilazapril and amlodipine, can successfully delay the slope of GFR decline in hypertensive NIDDM patients with or without incipient nephropathy.

Adult↗

Arterial hypertension and microalbuminuria in IDDM: the Italian Microalbuminuria Study.

Arterial hypertension and poor glycaemic control are central to the development of microalbuminuria in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Recent consensus has established sensitive criteria for their detection and treatment, although the proportion of patients who may benefit is unclear. Between 1988 and 1990, we measured urinary albumin to creatinine concentration ratio (A/C) in 3,636 adult out-patients with IDDM of more than 3 years duration, serum creatinine under 133 mumol/l and who were not undergoing antihypertensive treatment. A/C indicating microalbuminuria (> or = 2.38/2.96 mg/mmol, male/female) was found in 620 of 3,451 patients without proteinuria, and associated with hypertension (blood pressure > or = 140 and/or 90 mmHg; p = 0.0016; rate: 39.6%), independent of diabetes duration (p = 0.0082) and male gender (p = 0.0350; relative risk = 1.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.32). Hypertension was less common among those with normal A/C (27.5%, p < 0.0001) but was positively related with diabetes duration. Of the 1,015 patients with A/C > or = 2.0 mg/mmol 529 were reexamined. Glycated haemoglobin levels exceeded 3 SD above the mean of normal in 84.3% of the 198 microalbuminuric patients (AER = 20-200 micrograms/min), but were comparably poor (79.2%) in normoalbuminuria. Duration of diabetes was inversely related to glycated haemoglobin only in microalbuminuria (0.05 < p < 0.1). Intervention to lower blood pressure remains mainly restricted to those patients with long-term diabetes and slower development of kidney disease. Near-normalisation of glycaemia remains the priority for the majority of patients with microalbuminuria.

Adolescent↗

Peripheral, rather than hepatic, insulin resistance and atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype predict cardiovascular complications in NIDDM.

Microalbuminuria, hypertension and hyperinsulinaemia are three independent risk factors for cardiac disease in non insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM). However, it is unknown to what extent hyperinsulinaemia reflects resistance to insulin action at hepatic, extrahepatic or at both sites. A cross-sectional study from our Department showed that peripheral insulin resistance, hypertension, microalbuminuria and lipid abnormalities are associated in NIDDM. Non diabetic individuals with the so-called 'atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype', characterized by small dense low density lipoproteins (LDL subclass pattern B) have up to 3-fold higher risk of myocardial infarction. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether impaired peripheral insulin sensitivity, during euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp, as well as abnormalities in lipid concentrations and LDL size, predict abnormalities in albumin excretion rate, blood pressure and cardiac function in 73 consecutive normotensive (< 85 mmHg diastolic level) and normoalbuminuric (< 15 micrograms min-1 daily albumin excretion rate) NIDDM patients. These patients showed a bimodal distribution of whole body glucose utilization rate, a parameter of peripheral insulin sensitivity. The cut-off point between the two modes of distribution was located close to the mean value minus one standard deviation in a population of 24 control subjects. Therefore, this latter value was used to identify two subgroups inside the overall population of NIDDM patients, i.e. 28 patients (group 1), with whole body glucose utilization rate, above, and 45 patients (group 2), below, the mean value minus 1 SD in the 24 controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Lipoprotein abnormalities in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients with impaired extrahepatic insulin sensitivity, hypertension, and microalbuminuria.

We investigated whether specific lipoprotein abnormalities are present in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients with hypertension and/or microalbuminuria. Fifteen normotensive normoalbuminuric (H-M-), 32 hypertensive normoalbuminuric (H+M-), and 22 hypertensive microalbuminuric (H+M+) NIDDM patients and 20 sex-, age-, and weight-matched nondiabetic control subjects were studied. Lipoprotein size was measured by nondenaturing polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis; insulin sensitivity was assessed by using a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and [6,6(2)H]glucose tracer infusion for simultaneous measurement of hepatic glucose output and whole-body glucose utilization. Total plasma and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were higher in H+M+ than in control subjects (5.84 +/- 0.98 versus 4.97 +/- 0.98 and 0.57 +/- 0.54 versus 0.26 +/- 0.21 mmol/L, mean +/- SD, P < .05). Plasma triglycerides were higher in H+M+ than in either control or H-M- subjects (2.17 +/- 1.32 versus 1.18 +/- 0.67 and 1.30 +/- 0.59 mmol/L, respectively; P < .05). The mean low-density lipoprotein diameter was 27.2 +/- 0.8 in control, 26.7 +/- 0.8 in H-M-, 26.5 +/- 0.8 nm in H+M- (P < .05 versus control subjects), and 26.0 +/- 0.8 nm in H+M+ subjects (P < .05 versus control subjects). The mean cholesterol level of the large high-density lipoprotein particles was lower in H+M- and H+M+ (0.37 +/- 0.14 and 0.36 +/- 0.16 mmol/L) than in control and H-M- (0.54 +/- 0.41 and 0.54 +/- 0.27 mmol/L, P < .05) subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Albuminuria↗

Impaired insulin-induced glucose uptake by extrahepatic tissue is hallmark of NIDDM patients who have or will develop hypertension and microalbuminuria.

Insulin resistance may be a mechanism linking non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) to hypertension and cardiovascular mortality. Microalbuminuria also is an independent risk factor of cardiovascular mortality and of hypertension. Little information is available in the literature on the relationship between microalbuminuria and insulin action. This study investigated the relationships between blood pressure (BP) levels, microalbuminuria, and insulin resistance in NIDDM patients. Seventy-five NIDDM patients attending the outpatient clinic of the Department of Internal Medicine of the University Hospital in Padua, Italy participated in the cross-sectional part of our study. These subjects were divided into four groups on the basis of BP levels and albumin excretion rate (AER): 28 normotensive normoalbuminuric (NIDDM1), 19 hypertensive normoalbuminuric (NIDDM2), 15 normotensive microalbuminuric (NIDDM3), and 13 hypertensive microalbuminuric patients (NIDDM4). We defined microalbuminuria as an AER > 20 micrograms/min. Patients with BP levels > 145/90 mmHg were considered hypertensive. A group of 20 normal subjects served as control subjects. The results from the cross-sectional study indicate that the mean of insulin-induced whole-body glucose utilization, primarily an index of extrahepatic insulin action, was lower at all insulin infusion steps in the group of hypertensive and/or microalbuminuric patients than in the group of normotensive normoalbuminuric patients and control subjects. Hepatic glucose output, an index of insulin action in the liver, was on average less efficiently inhibited in all of the patients than in the control subjects, regardless of the BP levels or the AER.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Lipoprotein compositional abnormalities in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.

Patients with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in good metabolic control usually have normal plasma lipid levels yet they have an increased incidence of vascular complications. Abnormalities in the distribution and composition of lipoprotein subfractions might in part be responsible for the macroangiopathy seen in type 1 diabetes mellitus. The plasma lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins were studied in 9 type 1 diabetic patients during conventional insulin therapy and in 14 healthy controls. Plasma lipoproteins were analysed by ultracentrifugation in a zonal rotor to evaluate their concentrations and flotation properties and for compositional analysis. In diabetic patients the mean glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was 9.44 +/- 1.02% and the plasma lipid concentrations were not significantly different from healthy controls. The very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) subclass cholesterol concentrations were no different in diabetic patients and control subjects, but the VLDL cholesterol/triglyceride ratio was significantly lower in diabetic patients than in control subjects (0.43 +/- 0.05 vs 0.85 +/- 0.14; p < 0.05). The flotation rate LDL2, the major component of low density lipoprotein (LDL) was lower in the diabetic patients compared with the control subjects. The cholesterol concentrations of intermediate density lipoprotein and LDL3, the minor component of LDL, were significantly higher (0.17 +/- 0.03 and 0.83 +/- 0.14 mmol/l respectively) in diabetic patients than in control subjects (0.05 +/- 0.02 and 0.24 +/- 0.08 mmol/l). The flotation properties and cholesterol concentrations of the high density lipoprotein (HDL) subclass, and the protein-lipid composition of LDL2, HDL2 and HDL3, were no different in diabetic patients and control subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗