Evaluation of Triglyceride and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Association with Albuminuria in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Background: Microalbuminuria is a predictor of nephropathy in diabetic patients. But not all, patients with type 2 diabetes progress to renal dysfunction during their lifetime. Lipids are now thought to have a direct role in the pathogenesis of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), and therefore probably contribute to the high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with diabetic nephropathy.Purpose: To identify the relationship between triglyceride, HDL and albuminuria especially in diabetics with controlled LDL levels, which may help to a future strategy for prevention of diabetic nephropathy.Methods: A total of 100 patients with type 2 DM were included in the study of those attending diabetic polyclinic in the state of Kuwait in 2015. Data were collected, including age, sex, duration of diabetes, smoking status, history of hypertension, body mass index, HbA1C, presence of retinopathy, urinary albumin complete lipid profile with patient of LDL-C equal or less than 3.3mmol/L, and medications.Results: The mean age was 57.39±10.774ys. The serum triglyceride levels were significantly higher in diabetic patients with albuminuria (mean ± SD of 1.6673±0.58219) than those without (1.4164±0.86177) with a p-value of 0.003 while serum HDL showed a non significant difference between patients with and without albuminuria (p-value=0.216). The triglyceride-to-HDL cholesterol ratio was assessed by ROC analysis. The area under the curve was 0.656 (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.75, p 0.006). The cutoff value of 1.5 had a sensitivity of 51.22% and a specificity of 79.7% for differentiating urinary albumin ≥30mcg/mg Cr in type 2 diabetic subjects.Conclusion: Albuminuria was associated with higher levels of plasma triglycerides among patients with controlled LDL-C. While, low levels of HDL-C was not associated with in albuminuria.