N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide could be a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), which is a useful biomarker of chronic heart failure, has been shown to be a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between NT-proBNP and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes. Relationships of NT-proBNP to pulse wave velocity (PWV) or ankle-brachial index (ABI) as well as to various parameters, including body mass index, blood pressure, serum lipid concentration, serum uric acid concentration, and glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c), age, hemoglobin, serum creatinine concentration, severity of diabetic nephropathy or retinopathy, current treatment of diabetes, cardiothoracic ratio on chest radiograph, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy and/or ST-T changes evaluated by electrocardiograph, smoking status and presence of cardiovascular disease were investigated in 323 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes. Log (NT-proBNP) correlated positively with PWV (r = 0.283, p < 0.0001) and correlated negatively with ABI (r = -0.144, p = 0.0094). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that age (β = 0.200, p = 0.0033), systolic blood pressure (β = 0.246, p < 0.0001), total cholesterol (β = -0.135, p = 0.0326), uric acid (β = 0.133, p = 0.0462), creatinine (β = -0.184, p = 0.0122), smoking status (β = -0.129, p = 0.0499) and log (NT-proBNP) (β = 0.177, p = 0.0149) were independently correlated with PWV and that systolic blood pressure (β = -0.145, p = 0.0310), log triglyceride (β = -0.151, p = 0.0397) and log (NT-proBNP) (β = -0.207, p = 0.0094) were independently correlated with ABI. In conclusion, NT-proBNP could be a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.