Risk Factors Related to Inflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in the DCCT/EDIC Cohort and Their Relationship With Nephropathy and Macrovascular Complications

OBJECTIVE: Because endothelial cell dysfunction and inflammation are key contributors to the development of complications in type 1 diabetes, we studied risk factors related to endothelial dysfunction and inflammation (C-reactive protein and fibrinogen, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intracellular adhesion molecule-1, and E-selectin, and fibrinolytic markers) in a subgroup of patients from the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Intervention and Complications (EDIC) study cohort. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We determined which of these risk factors or clusters thereof are associated with the presence of and subsequent development of nephropathy and macrovascular complications (reflected by carotid intima-media thickness [IMT]). RESULTS: After adjustment for conventional risk factors (age, sex, DCCT treatment group, diabetes duration, A1C, systolic blood pressure, waist-to-hip ratio, total and HDL cholesterol, and smoking status), fibrinogen remained strongly associated with progression of internal and common carotid IMT (P < 0.01) and soluble E-selectin had a strong association with nephropathy (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The best predictor for IMT progression in the DCCT/EDIC cohort was plasma fibrinogen, and the levels of soluble E-selectin discriminate patients with albuminuria better than conventional risk factors.