Previous studies have suggested a positive association between dyslipidemia and chronic kidney disease, but sparse data are available on the relation of lipids and urinary albumin excretion rate (UAE) in normoalbuminuric patients with normal renal function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations of serum lipids, including total, LDL, HDL, HDL2, HDL3 cholesterol, and triglyceride levels with UAE in normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients. Methods: Study included 313 normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients with normal renal function and before any interventions with statins, ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers. Subjects were classified as low-normoalbuminuric (UAE<11.0 mg/24h) or high-normoalbuminuric (UAE≥11.0 mg/24h) based on median UAE of at least two 24-h urine collections. Correlations and multiple linear regressions analysis were performed to identify relationships between serum lipids and UAE in normoalbuminuric subjects. Total HDL (P=0.02) and HDL3 cholesterol (P=0.01) levels were higher in low-normoalbuminuric subjects compared to high-normoalbuminuric subjects. In logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, duration of diabetes and HbA1c lower total HDL and HDL3 cholesterol levels were significantly associated with risk of higher UAE in our normoalbuminuric subjects (p≤0.01), with odds ratios of 0.34 to 0.43. In this study of normoalbuminuric type 1 diabetic patients we have shown that lipid disturbances can be observed even in state of normal renal function and that elevated total HDL and HDL3 cholesterol may indicate a protection from the development of microalbuminuria. |