Relation Between Glycosylated Hemoglobin (Hemoglobin A1c) and Aortic Stiffness in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and is responsible for the increase in cardiovascular mortality. Chronic hyperglycemia is related to accelerated atherosclerosis. In this study, we tried to demonstrate the relation between glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, which is a marker of long-standing hyperglycemia, and aortic stiffness, which is a marker of cardiovascular disease. Patients and Methods: In total, 100 patients with type 2 DM were included in this study. Patients were divided into three groups according to the HbA1c level (group 1 HbA1c ≤ 6, group 2 HbA1c between 6 and 7, and group 3 HbA1c ≥ 7). Results: Significant correlation was found between aortic distensibility and HbA1c level (r= 0.283, p= 0.004). Moreover, aortic distensibility was also correlated with the duration of DM (r= −0.172, p= 0.05) and age (r= -0.27, p= 0.006). Significant correlation was determined between aortic strain and fasting blood glucose level, HbA1c level, and the duration of DM (r= −0.265, p= 0.008; r= 0.279, p= 0.005; and r= −0.14, p= 0.03, respectively). Conclusion: In this study, we showed that aortic stiffness was increased in patients with type 2 DM who have high blood fasting glucose and HbA1c levels. Our study also showed that the duration of DM was related to aortic stiffness. Echocardiographic non-invasive evaluation of aortic stiffness may be helpful in the estimation of cardiovascular risk in patients with DM.