Metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease in pancreas and kidney transplant recipients.

Hyperinsulinaemia when combined with insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridaemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We have studied the serum lipid profile and glycaemic control in 27 uraemic diabetic patients, 23 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic kidney recipients, 18 non-diabetic kidney recipients, and 30 recipients of kidney and pancreas transplants at 6 months post-transplantation. Fasting serum triglycerides were increased in the uraemic diabetic patients and nondiabetic kidney transplanted patients but not in diabetic kidney transplanted patients whether or not they had received a pancreas. Total cholesterol was increased only in the uraemic diabetic patients while HDL cholesterol was normal in all groups. Within the pancreas and kidney transplanted group triglyceride values correlated with glomerular filtration rate (r = -0.55) but not with plasma insulin, glycated haemoglobin or kG-value following an intravenous glucose load. Plasma insulin was increased. Whether such isolated hyperinsulinaemia confers an increased risk of cardiovascular disease is not known. There may be adaptive feed-back mechanisms to protect target cells. Increasing the surgical risk in attempts to secure insulin delivery to the portal circulation does not seem warranted.