Inflammation, Left Ventricular Mass Index and Chronic Renal Failure in Diabetic Patients

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) with diabetic nephropathy at different stages. Methods: Our study was a cross-sectional study involving patients with various stage of T2DM. Patients with LVH were identified by 2D echocardiography. Plasma human tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, vaspin, vispatin and midkine were measured. Results: A total of 59 T2DM patients (56% women) with a mean age of 56.1 +/- 8.8 years were included in the study. The mean left ventricular mass index was 129 +/- 30. LVH was detected in 62.7% of the patients. Patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) had a higher incidence of LVH than patients with an eGFR >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (p=0.03). The TNF-alpha levels in patients with LVH with low eGFR was found to be statistically significantly higher than in patients without LVH (p=0.047). The level of vaspin was statistically significantly higher in patients with LVH (p=0.01). Conclusion: LVH was found to be more frequent in patients with low eGFR, and from inflammatory markers, it was found to be associated only with TNF-alpha and vaspin.