Blood Rheology and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 1 Diabetes: Relationship with Microalbuminuria

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Abstract
Whole blood and plasma viscosity, erythrocyte aggregation and deformability, plasma fibrinogen, lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, and measures of blood glucose control were compared between 21 Type 1 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria (overnight albumin excretion rate 30–200 μg min−1) and 21 patients with albumin excretion below this range matched for age, sex, and duration of diabetes. Patients with microalbuminuria had significantly higher glycosylated haemoglobin (9.4±1.6 (±SD) vs 7.9±1.8% (normal range 5.0 to 7.6%)), total‐cholesterol (5.6±1.1 vs 4.6±1.3 mmol I−1), apolipoprotein B (0.82±0.21 vs 0.66±0.14 g I−1), and apolipoprotein B:A1 ratio (0.58±0.18 vs 0.50±0.15) than those without microalbuminuria (all p−1, p−1, p=0.06). No differences were seen in any of the rheological measurements. These results confirm the presence of potentially atherogenic lipoprotein changes in Type 1 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria, but suggest that altered blood rheology does not predate the development of nephropathy.