Correlation among ankle brachial index, urinary albumin excretion rate and inflammatory factors in patients with diabetic nephropathy

Aim: To investigate the correlation among ankle brachial index(ABI),urinary albumin excretion rate(UAER) and inflammatory factors in patients with diabetic nephropathy.Methods:A total of 93 diabetic nephropathy patients were divided into incipient DN group(DN1) and overt DN group(DN2) according to their UAER.The clinical data of the patients were collected.All patients were tested for HbAlc,TG,TC,HDL-C,LDL-C,UA,CRP,IL-6 and UAER.At the same time,the systolic pressures of the brachial artery and ankle artery were detected by Doppler,then the ABI of the patients was caculated.Results:Compared with DN1 group,the diabetes duration of the patients in DN2 group were longer(t=4.638,P0.001),and the incidence of hypertension and the levels of LDL-C,HbAlc,UA,IL-6,UAER and CRP were significantly higher,but the levels of HDL-C,ABI were significantly lower(P0.05).The ABI in patients showed correlation with the increase of age,the duration of diabetes,the levels of IL-6,UAER,HbAlc,LDL-C,UA(r=-0.352,-0.334,-0.299 and -0.376,-0.523,-0.505,-0.419,P0.05).The multivariate stepwise regression analysis showed that the level of HbAlc and IL-6 seemed to be independent risk factors for ABI(β were -0.278,-1.518,P0.05),and the duration of diabetes,the level of IL-6 and ABI seemed to be independent risk factors for UAER (β were 0.605,0.801,and -2.445,P0.05).Conclusion:The degree of micro-inflammation becomes more serious with the worsening of diabetic nephropathy.Micro-inflammation is one of the common mechanisms which affect diabetic nephropathy and peripheral artery disease.