New coronary risk factors: is there a difference between diabetic patients with microalbuminuria compared to those without microalbuminuria?

Diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease. The presence of microalbuminuria, which indicates renal involvement in diabetic patients, influences the progression of coronary artery disease. New coronary risk factors such as C-reactive protein (CRP), Lipoprotein a [Lp (a)] and fibrinogen are increasingly being recognized as important cardiovascular prognostic factors. These new coronary risk factors could account for the worse cardiovascular prognosis in diabetic patients with microalbuminuria. Our cross sectional study was to compare the prevalence of elevated CRP and the levels of Lp (a) and fibrinogen between diabetic patients with microalbuminuria and those without microalbuminuria. Diabetic patients with overt coronary artery disease were excluded from the study. A total of 108 patients were recruited of which 57 patients had microalbuminuria and 51 were without microalbuminuria. There was no difference in the number of patients with elevated CRP between these two groups. There were also no significant differences in the mean values of Lp (a) and fibrinogen between diabetic patients with and without microalbuminuria. The inflammatory marker CRP and coagulopathy markers i.e. Lp (a) and fibrinogen seem not to be perturbed in diabetic patients with microalbuminuria.