Abstract

BACKGROUND
Increased urinary albumin excretion (UAE) is not only an independent predictor of progressive renal disease but also an important marker of atherosclerotic disease in patients with NIDDM. However, the pathaphysiologic basis of this observation is poorly understood. Recently, one interesting hypothesis suggested: UAE rnerely reflects a glomerular manifestation of an otherwise generalized vascular dysfunction(hyperpermeable state), and Stehouwer et al. Reported a strong relationship between plasma von Willebrand factor level(a measure of endothelial dysfunction), UAE and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we studied the relationship between UAE, plasma vWF and macrovascular disease in patients with NIDDM. METHODS: We measured UAE and plasma vWF levels in 102 patients with NIDDM, and investigated the telationship between these values and macrovascular diseses. Also, we assesed the risk factars for macrovascular disease. RESULTS: 1) Among total of 102 patients, nonnoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria group were 58 patients(56.9%), 28 patients(27.5%) and 16 patients(15.6%), respectively. 2) The prevalencies of hypertension, diabetic retinopathy and macrovascular diseases were the highest in macroalbuminuria group, followed by microalbuminuria and norrnoalbuminuria group in order of frequency. 3) Plasma vWF and UAE levels were significantly correlated(r=0.44). 4) Plasma vWF concentrations were higher in patients with macrovascular diseases than in those without macrovascular diseases, and also higher in patients with retinopathy compared with those without retinopathy. 5) Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, smoking and vWF were independent risk factors for macrovascular diseases. CONCLUSION: 1) As plasma vWF and UAE values were increased, more macrovascular diseases were observed in patients with NIDDM. 2) Plasma vWF may be used as an indicator of macrovascular disease in patients with NIDDM.

• Keywords: NIDDM;Urinary albumin excretion;von Willebrand factor;Macrovascular disease;