Role of postprandial hyperglycaemia in cardiovascular disease in diabetes.

Diabetes is associated with a marked increase in the risk of atherosclerotic vascular disorders, including coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral artery disease. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) could account for disabilities and high mortality rates in patients with diabetes. Conventional risk factors, including hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and a positive family history, contribute similarly to macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetic patients and non-diabetic subjects. The levels of these factors in diabetic patients are certainly increased, but not enough to explain the exaggerated risk for macrovascular complications in diabetic population. Therefore, specific diabetes-related risk factors should be involved in the excess risk in diabetic patients. In this paper, we review the molecular mechanisms for accelerated atherosclerosis in diabetes, especially focusing on postprandial hyperglycaemia. We also discuss here the potential therapeutic strategy that specifically targets CVD in patients with diabetes.