Introduction Intimal media thickness (IMT) of common carotid artery (CCA) is used as an index of atherosclerosis. IMT is increased in subjects with diabetes and also with diabetic nephropathy.
Aim The study was undertaken in South Indian type 2 diabetic patients with different degrees of albuminuria to see whether albuminuria worsened IMT.
Material and methods IMT was measured by ultrasonography in 273 diabetic subjects with normoalbuminuria (n=91), microalbuminuria (n=92), clinical proteinuria (Prot) (n=90) and in age-matched non-diabetic subjects (n=99). The diabetic subjects were older than the non-diabetic subjects hence IMT was age-adjusted using a linear regression formula.
Results Age-adjusted IMT value in diabetic subjects was significantly higher (0.88±0.3 mm) than in non-diabetic subjects (0.57±0.34 mm) (p<0.001). Mean IMT in normoalbuminuria (0.87±0.26 mm), microalbuminuria (0.90± 0.33 mm) and Prot (0.86±0.39 mm) patients were not significantly different from each other. Male gender, age, diabetes and total cholesterol were independently associated with IMT, while duration of diabetes, hypertension and HbA1C were not.
Conclusion Increased carotid IMT occurred in type 2 diabetes prior to the presence of albuminuria. Further deterioration in IMT did not occur with the presence of albuminuria.
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