Post-prandial hyperglycemia is an important predictor of the incidence of diabetic microangiopathy in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients.

Diabetic microangiopathy is often observed in diabetic patients, but there is little evidence regarding the relationship between post-prandial glycemia or insulinemia and the incidence of diabetic microangiopathy. In this study, to elucidate the relationship between post-prandial glycemia (or insulinemia) and diabetic microangiopathy, we performed a cross-sectional study of 232 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were not being treated with insulin injections. A multiple regression analysis showed that post-prandial hyperglycemia independently correlated with the incidence of diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy. Post-prandial hyperglycemia also correlated, although not independently, with the incidence of diabetic nephropathy. In addition, interestingly, post-prandial hypoinsulinemia independently correlated with the incidence of diabetic retinopathy, although not correlated with diabetic neuropathy or nephropathy. In conclusion, post-prandial hyperglycemia, rather than fasting glycemia or hemoglobin A1c levels, is an important predictor of the incidence of diabetic microangiopathy in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients.