Background and objectives: Patients with allergic disorders such as allergic rhinitis or asthma have been reported to be at increased risk for atherosclerosis. In this study, we evaluated the relationships between peripheral eosinophil count and degree of albumin excretion rate, which is a useful marker of cardiovascular mortality as well as diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Design, setting, participants, & measurements: We evaluated relationships of peripheral eosinophil count to degree of albumin excretion rate as well as to major cardiovascular risk factors, including age, BP, serum lipid concentration, and glycemic control (glycosylated hemoglobin); body mass index; current treatment for diabetes; smoking status; and presence of cardiovascular disease in 783 patients (416 men and 367 women) with type 2 diabetes.
Results: Log(eosinophil count) was positively associated with systolic BP (r = 0.124, P = 0.0108), serum triglyceride concentration (r = 0.108, P = 0.0284), and log(albumin excretion rate) (r = 0.301, P < 0.0001) in men; however, no association was found between log(eosinophil count) and log(albumin excretion rate) (r = 0.085, P = 0.1050) in women. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that log(eosinophil count) (beta = 0.260, P < 0.0001), duration of diabetes (beta = 0.203, P = 0.0003), glycosylated hemoglobin (beta = 0.117, P = 0.0238), systolic BP (beta = 0.205, P = 0.0001), and serum triglyceride concentration (beta = 0.162, P = 0.0038) were independent determinants of log(albumin excretion rate) in men.
Conclusions: Allergic disorders may be associated with microalbuminuria in men with type 2 diabetes.