J Korean Med Sci.  2008 Feb;23(1):77-82. 10.3346/jkms.2008.23.1.77.

Endothelial Dysfunction and Microvascular Complications in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

• Jin SM
• Noh CI
• Yang SW
• Bae EJ
• Shin CH
• Chung HR
• Kim YY
• Yun YS

• KMID: 1786849
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2008.23.1.77

Abstract

We examined whether alterations in vascular endothelial function and early structural changes in atherosclerosis are associated with microvascular complications in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement were performed in 70 young adults (aged 19 to 35 yr), 48 with type 1 DM, and 22 normal controls. Patients with diabetes had a lower peak FMD response (7.8+/-3.9 vs. 11.1 +/-1.9%, p<0.001) and increased IMT (0.51+/-0.10 vs. 0.42+/-0.07 mm, p<0.001) compared with controls. Twenty (41.7%) of the patients had microvascular complications including neuropathy, nephropathy, or retinopathy. In these complicated diabetic patients, we found a lower FMD response (6.1+/-2.5 vs. 9.9+/-3.5%, p=0.001) compared with diabetics without microvascular complications. The presence of microvascular complications was also associated with older age and longer duration of the disease. However, no differences were observed in IMT, body size, blood pressure, HbA1c, C-reactive protein, low-density lipoprotein or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels between complicated and non-complicated patients. Endothelial dysfunction and early structural atherosclerotic changes are common manifestations in type 1 DM, and endothelial dysfunction is thought to be an early event in the atherosclerotic process and important in the pathogenesis of microvascular complications.

Keyword

Vascular Endothelial; Atherosclerosis; Microangiopathy; Diabetes Mellitus

MeSH Terms

Adult
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/*complications
Diabetic Angiopathies/*etiology
Endothelium, Vascular/*physiology
Female
Humans
Male
*Microcirculation
Tunica Intima/pathology
Tunica Media/pathology
Vasodilation

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Comparison of the results of flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in three study groups (controls, non-complicated and complicated type 1 diabetic patients).

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