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Assessment of arterial stiffness in type 1 diabetes using digital pulse contour analysis: Is it a reliable method?

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Abstract

Aims

The aim of this study was to assess the arterial stiffness in patients with type 1 diabetes compared with a control group and determine the associated potential risk factors for its occurrence.

Methods

Fifty-seven subjects with type 1 diabetes and fifty-three healthy controls were submitted to clinical and laboratory evaluation. The peripheral waveform pressure was analyzed to assess arterial stiffness according to the reflection and stiffness index.

Results

Arterial stiffness did not differ between the controls and patients with type 1 diabetes. Pulse pressure showed no difference among both groups. In the group of patients with type 1 diabetes, the stiffness index was correlated with diabetes duration (r = 0.59, p < 0.001), body mass index (r = 0.27, p = 0.03), diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.33, p = 0.001), triglycerides (r = 0.35, p = 0.007), and age (r = 0.46, p < 0.001). The reflection index was correlated with the systolic blood pressure (r = 0.29, p = 0.02), diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.30, p = 0.02), and cardiac frequency (r = 0.48, p < 0.001). In the stepwise multivariate analysis, disease duration, diastolic blood pressure, and HDL cholesterol were the most important independent variables associated with arterial stiffness in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Conclusions

We concluded that in the studied population, arterial stiffness showed no difference between patients with diabetes and controls; thus, the use of this method should not be indicated for routine clinical practice in type 1 diabetes.

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Abbreviations

T1DM:

Type 1 diabetes

RI:

Reflection index

SI:

Stiffness index

PCA:

Pulse wave contour analysis

PCI:

Pulse curve’s inflection

BMI:

Body mass index

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

NO:

Nitric oxide

HbA1C:

Glycosylated hemoglobin

UA:

Uric acid

CV:

Coefficients of variation

CRP:

C-reactive protein

ESR:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

eNOS:

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from Fundação do Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Brasil (CNPq).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Unit, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Boulevard 28 de Setembro, n. 77–Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, 20551-030, Brazil

    Alessandra S. de M. Matheus, Bárbara Pereira Pires, Aline Tiemi Kano Silva & Marília B. Gomes

  2. Laboratory of Cardiovascular Investigation, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Eduardo Tibiriçá

Authors
  1. Alessandra S. de M. Matheus
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  2. Bárbara Pereira Pires
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  3. Eduardo Tibiriçá
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  4. Aline Tiemi Kano Silva
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  5. Marília B. Gomes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandra S. de M. Matheus.

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Conflict of interest

None.

Ethical standard

This study was approved by the ethical committee of Azienda Ospedaliera Garibaldi Nesima-Catania.

Human and animal rights

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Managed by Massimo Federici.

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Matheus, A.S.d., Pires, B.P., Tibiriçá, E. et al. Assessment of arterial stiffness in type 1 diabetes using digital pulse contour analysis: Is it a reliable method?. Acta Diabetol 53, 477–482 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-015-0821-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-015-0821-1

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