Relationship of progressively increasing albuminuria to apoprotein(a) and blood pressure in type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) and type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.

This study has explored the temporal relationship between apoprotein(a), blood pressure and albuminuria over a mean interval of 11 years in a cohort of 107 diabetic patients of whom 26 (14 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent), 12 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) had progressively increasing albuminuria ('progressors'). In Type 2 diabetic patients, no significant differences were noted for HbA1, blood pressure, creatinine clearance or serum lipids between progressors and non-progressors. In Type 1 diabetic patients, final systolic and diastolic blood pressures were higher in progressors compared with non-progressors and progressors showed impairment of renal function in association with a rise in blood pressure at the macroalbuminuric stage. Initial apoprotein(a) levels were similar in progressors and non-progressors of either diabetes type. Apoprotein(a) levels increased exponentially with time in 12 of 14 Type 2 progressors but only in 5 of 12 Type 1 progressors (p < 0.01). In Type 2 diabetic patients, the annual increase in apoprotein(a) levels was 9.1 +/- 2.4%, which was significantly greater than in non-progressors, 2.0 +/- 1.2% (p < 0.01) and also exceeded the rates of increase of apoprotein(a) in progressors with Type 1 diabetes, 4.0 +/- 1.4%, (p < 0.05). Apoprotein(a) levels correlated significantly with albuminuria in 8 of 14 Type 2 progressors but only in 3 of 12 Type 1 progressors (p < 0.05). The rate of increase of apoprotein(a) levels was not related to mean HbA1, creatinine or creatinine clearance levels, or to albuminuria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)