Longitudinal Association Between Endothelial Dysfunction, Inflammation, and Clotting Biomarkers With Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Type 1 Diabetes: An Evaluation of the DCCT/EDIC Cohort

OBJECTIVE There is considerable interest in identifying biomarkers that predict high risk for the development of macrovascular complications in patients with diabetes. Therefore, the longitudinal association between subclinical atherosclerosis as measured by internal carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and acute-phase reactants, cytokines/adipokines, thrombosis, and adhesion molecules was examined. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Biomarkers were measured at four time points over 20 years in 886 DCCT/EDIC participants with type 1 diabetes. Four composite scores were created by combining z scores generated from within the data set of individual biomarkers: acute-phase reactants (fibrinogen, C-reactive protein), thrombosis (fibrinogen, active and total plasminogen activator inhibitor [PAI]-1), cytokines/adipokines (tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 and -2, active and total PAI-1, IL-6), and endothelial dysfunction (soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and soluble E-selectin). Internal carotid IMT was measured at EDIC years 1, 6, and 12, with elevated IMT defined at each time point as being in the upper quintile of its distribution. RESULTS Logistic regression models indicate that while individual biomarkers were not predictive of or associated with subclinical atherosclerosis, composite scores of acute-phase reactants (odds ratio [OR] 2.78 [95% CI 1.42, 5.42]), thrombolytic factors (OR 2.83 [95% CI 1.45, 5.52]), and cytokines/adipokines (OR 2.83 [95% CI 1.48, 5.41]) measured at our final time point EDIC years 8-11 were associated with higher levels of atherosclerosis at EDIC year 12, but findings were not consistent at early time points. The endothelial dysfunction score was not appreciably predictive of or associated with subclinical atherosclerosis at any of the time points measured. CONCLUSIONS The pathophysiologic relationship between higher biomarker levels and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis remains unclear.