Lipids and lipoproteins predicting coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of lipoprotein fractions with the future risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM).

METHODS AND RESULTS

At baseline, lipoprotein fractions were determined in 313 diabetic patients with NIDDM (153 men and 160 women), and these patients were followed up for 7 years with respect to CHD events (CHD death or all CHD events including CHD death or nonfatal myocardial infarction). Altogether, 56 NIDDM patients (28 men and 28 women) died from CHD and 25 had a nonfatal myocardial infarction (17 men and 8 women) during the follow-up. NIDDM patients having these CHD events during the follow-up had higher levels of total and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and HDL2 cholesterol than those without CHD events. The risk for CHD death was fourfold and for all CHD events, twofold higher among diabetics with low HDL cholesterol (< 0.9 mmol/L) than among diabetics with HDL cholesterol > or = 0.9 mmol/L. High triglyceride level (> 2.3 mmol/L) was associated with a twofold increase in the risk of CHD events. In multiple logistic regression analyses, HDL was inversely associated with CHD events and VLDL triglycerides with CHD events in NIDDM patients with low HDL cholesterol level (< or = 1.12 mmol/L).

CONCLUSIONS

Our 7-year follow-up study gives evidence that low HDL and HDL2 cholesterol, high VLDL cholesterol, and high total and VLDL triglycerides are powerful risk indicators for CHD events in patients with NIDDM: