Carotid intima-media thickness, 25-OH vitamin D, homocysteine and subclinical coronary artery atherosclerosis in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Individuals with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk of premature atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible predictive significance of elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), lower serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) for the development of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and no previous history of ischemic heart disease. The study included 73 patients previously diagnosed with T1D. The patients were divided into groups with and without non-obstructive moderate coronary artery stenosis. Coronary artery stenosis was examined using coronary multidetector computed tomographic angiography (MDCTA); CIMT was measured by B-mode ultrasound. The patients with moderate stenosis had significantly higher HbA1c (p<0.001), elevated tHcy (p<0.001), increased CIMTmax. (p<0.001) but lower 25(OH)D (p<0.001) in comparison to patients without detectable coronary atherosclerosis. Homocysteine (AUCHcy=0.955; p<0.001), vitamin D (AUCvit D=0.792; p<0.001) and CIMT max (AUCCIMT=0.743; p<0.001) (AUC or area under the curve) appear to be adequate markers for detecting stenosis of coronary arteries using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum homocysteine was the only significant predictor of moderate coronary artery stenosis. Our study implies that tHcy can be used as a reliable predictor of coronary artery atherosclerosis in patients with T1D. 25(OH)D and CIMT can also be used, but with lower diagnostic accuracy.