Markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction are associated with incident cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, and progression of coronary calcification in type 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria

Background: We evaluated markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction and their associations with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), all-cause mortality and progression of coronary artery calcium (CAC) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and microalbuminuria but without known coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Prospective study including 200 patients receiving multifactorial treatment. Markers of inflammation (TNF-a, sICAM-1, sICAM-3, hsCRP, SAA, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8) and endothelial dysfunction (thrombomodulin, sVCAM-1, sICAM-1, sICAM-3, sE-selectin, sP-selectin) were measured at baseline. Adjustment included traditional CVD risk factors, and full adjustment additionally NT-proBNP and CAC. The "SQRT method" assessed CAC progression after 5.8 years, and cut-point was an annualised difference >2.5. Results: Occurrence of CVD (n = 40) and all-cause mortality (n = 26) was traced after 6.1 years. In adjusted and fully adjusted Cox models, TNF-a was a determinant of CVD and all-cause mortality (p