The Association between Urinary Albumin Excretion Rate and Early Macrovascular Complications in Type 2 Diabetes

Objective To investigate the association between urinary albumin excretion rate(UAER) and the carotid intima-media thickness(CIMT) in type 2 diabetes.Methods The 302 subjects with type 2 diabetes were divided into three groups according to UAER levels:103 with normal albuminuria(UAER20 μg/min),107 with microalbuminuria(UAER 20～200 μg/min)and 92 with clinical albuminuria(UAER200 μg/min).The levels of CIMT were measured with high resolution ultrasound.Multivariable correlate analysis was used to analyze the relation between UAER and CIMT.Results Age,sex and BMI were similar among the three groups.In the microalbuminuria group,CIMT was increased than that in the normal albuminuria group(P0.05).In the clinical albuminuria group,CIMT was significantly increased than that in the microalbuminuria group and normal albuminuria group(P0.05).There was a positive correlation between UAER and CIMT(r=0.716,P0.001).Conclusion UAER is closely related with CIMT.Higher UAER level is an important risk factor for early macrovascular disease in type 2 diabetic patients.