Results of a study published in the June 15th issue of the American Journal of Cardiology suggest an independent association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and increased left ventricular hypertrophy.
Dr. Kazuo Eguchi, now at Jichi Medical University School of Medicine in Tochigi, Japan, and colleagues performed transthoracic echocardiography and calculated LV mass in 1932 subjects in the multiethnic Northern Manhattan Study cohort sample (mean age 67.9 years, 769 men). Left ventricular hypertrophy was defined as the 75th percentile of LV mass.
Subjects with diabetes (n=443) had significantly higher LV mass than nondiabetics (n=1489) (189 g versus 174 g, p < 0.0001). Diabetics also had significantly higher BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, and history of coronary artery disease than nondiabetics.
Multivariate analysis revealed an independent association between type 2 diabetes and increased LV mass (p = 0.03), with diabetics more likely to have LV hypertrophy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.46; p = 0.004).
Waist circumference and diabetes, but not body mass index and diabetes, significantly affected subjects' risk of LV hypertrophy. "This result suggests that the impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus on LV mass may be partly explained by its interaction with central obesity," the researchers conclude. "It is possible that different types of adipocytes contained in visceral fat may have a direct influence on LV mass."
Am J Cardiol 2008;101:1787-1791
