APOLIPOPROTEIN (A) LEVELS AND ATHEROGENIC LIPID FRACTIONS IN RELATION TO THE DEGREE OF URINARY ALBUMIN EXCRETION IN TYPE-2 DIABETES-MELLITUS

The relationship between serum lipids, apolipoprotein levels including apolipoprotein (a) to albumin excretion rate (AER) in 52 (17 male, 35 female) type 2 diabetic patients was studied. Patients were classified in groups as follows: (1) Lipid abnormalities patients with normal AER(< 30 mg/24 h); (2) patients with microalbuminuria (AER 30-300 mg/24 h), and (3) patients with macroalbuminuria (AER > 300 mg/24 h). Apolipoprotein B levels were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated in the patients with macroalbuminuria compared to the normoalbuminuric group. Further, we observed a significant correlation between total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, as well as apolipoprotein B levels to the degree of AER. No correlation between apolipoprotein (a) levels and AER, which is in contrast to recently published data for type 1 diabetic patients, was found. Systolic blood pressure was significantly higher (p < 0.002) in the patients with micro- and macroalbuminuria compared to the group with normal albumin excretion, whereas no relationship between diastolic blood pressure and albuminuria was found. We conclude that elevated increased atherogenic lipid fractions in addition to systolic hypertension may contribute to an increased cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients with proteinuria.