OBJECTIVE: We investigated the correlation between acute-phase reactants, ie, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or fibrinogen and diabetic complications. METHODS: In 73 patients with type 2 diabetes, we investigated associations between both markers and carotid artery intimal medial complex thickness (IMT), heart rate variability, or urinary albumin excretion (UAE). RESULTS: Log hsCRP and fibrinogen correlated significantly with each other (r = 0.3701, P = 0.0013). Fibrinogen correlated negatively with the coefficient of variation of RR intervals (CV(RR)) and positively with log UAE (r = -0.2433, P = 0.0381; r = 0.4815, P < 0.0001), while log hsCRP did not. Furthermore both log hsCRP and fibrinogen did not correlate with IMT. CONCLUSION: We concluded that despite their close correlation, fibrinogen compared with hsCRP might be closely associated with diabetic microangiopathy and that both markers might not correlate with IMT as a marker of macroangiopathy.
OBJECTIVE: We investigated the correlation between acute-phase reactants, ie, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or fibrinogen and diabetic complications. METHODS: In 73 patients with type 2 diabetes, we investigated associations between both markers and carotid artery intimal medial complex thickness (IMT), heart rate variability, or urinary albumin excretion (UAE). RESULTS: Log hsCRP and fibrinogen correlated significantly with each other (r = 0.3701, P = 0.0013). Fibrinogen correlated negatively with the coefficient of variation of RR intervals (CV(RR)) and positively with log UAE (r = -0.2433, P = 0.0381; r = 0.4815, P < 0.0001), while log hsCRP did not. Furthermore both log hsCRP and fibrinogen did not correlate with IMT. CONCLUSION: We concluded that despite their close correlation, fibrinogen compared with hsCRP might be closely associated with diabetic microangiopathy and that both markers might not correlate with IMT as a marker of macroangiopathy.