Paraoxonase 1 activity as a predictor of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes.

The role of paraoxonase 1 in cardiovascular disease complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus is not fully understood. We studied paraoxonase activity towards paraoxon in 188 non-diabetic and 140 diabetic subjects using general linear models and univariate analysis. Adjusting for age revealed a reduction in activity towards paraoxon was associated with a significant increase in risk (p = 0.023) for cardiovascular disease complications in diabetic patients. Multivariate analysis of two plasma measures of paraoxonase activity using paraoxon and diazoxon also showed reduced paraoxonase activity towards paraoxon was associated with a significant increase in risk (p = 0.045) for cardiovascular disease complications in diabetic patients. These analyses showed that a reduced paraoxonase activity towards paraoxon was associated with ethnicity. Based on multivariate analysis, subjects of Malay ethnic origin have significantly higher than expected activity (p = 0.008, compared to Indians), towards paraoxon than subjects of Chinese origin who in turn had higher than expected paraoxonase activity (p = 0.028, compared to Indians) Indian subjects.