We aim to explore the associations between serum uric acid (SUA) and obesity and cardio-cerebrovascular events (CCEs) in Chinese inpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 2 962 inpatients with T2DM were stratified into quartile based on SUA concentrations. There were significant increases in the prevalence of both obesity (32.6%, 41.9%, 50.1%, and 62.8%, respectively, p < 0.001 for trend) and severe obesity (0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1.3%, respectively, p < 0.001 for trend) across the SUA quartiles. A fully adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that SUA quartiles were independently associated with the presence of obesity (p < 0.001). The prevalence of CCEs was significantly higher in the obese diabetics than in the nonobese diabetics (16.8% vs. 13.2%, p = 0.027). After controlling for multiple confounding factors, BMI levels were also significantly correlated with the presence of CCEs (p = 0.020). However, there was no significant association of SUA quartiles/SUA levels with the presence of CCEs in T2DM. This study suggested that SUA levels were independently associated with obesity but not with CCEs in patients with T2DM. In selected populations such as subjects with T2DM, the role of uric acid in cardiovascular complications might be attributable to other cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity.

Both carotid and lower limb atherosclerosis are associated with increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks. However, it is still unclear whether the concomitant presence of carotid and lower extremity atherosclerosis further increases the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks. Therefore, our aim is to investigate whether the coexistence of carotid and lower extremity atherosclerosis was associated with higher cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks in patients with type 2 diabetes. This cross-sectional study was performed in 2830 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes. Based on carotid and lower limb Doppler ultrasound results, the patients were divided into three groups including 711 subjects without atherosclerosis, 999 subjects with either carotid or lower limb atherosclerosis, and 1120 subjects with both carotid and lower limb atherosclerosis. And we compared the clinical characteristics and prevalence of both cardio-cerebrovascular events (CCBVEs) and self-reported cardio- cerebrovascular diseases (CCBVDs) among the three groups. After adjusting for age, sex, and duration of diabetes, there were significant increases in the prevalence of both CCBVEs (3.8 vs. 11.8 vs. 26.4 %, p < 0.001 for trend) and self-reported CCBVDs (6.9 vs. 19.9 vs. 36.5 %, p < 0.001 for trend) across the three groups (diabetics without atherosclerosis, diabetics with either carotid or lower limb atherosclerosis, and diabetics with both carotid and lower extremity atherosclerosis). A fully adjusted logistic regression analysis also revealed that compared with those without atherosclerosis, those with either carotid or lower limb atherosclerosis had higher risk of CCBVEs (OR 1.724, 95 % CI 1.001–2.966) and self-reported CCBVDs (OR 1.705, 95 % CI 1.115–2.605), and those with concomitant presence of carotid and lower extremity atherosclerosis had the highest risk of CCBVEs (OR 2.869, 95 % CI 1.660–4.960) and self-reported CCBVDs (2.147, 95 % CI 1.388–3.320)(p < 0.001 for trend in CCBVEs and p = 0.002 for trend in CCBVDs, respectively). Either carotid or lower limb atherosclerosis was obviously related to increased cardio-cerebrovascular risk in type 2 diabetes. The concomitant presence of carotid and lower extremity atherosclerosis further increased cardio-cerebrovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. The combined application of carotid and lower extremity ultrasonography may help identify type 2 diabetics with higher cardio-cerebrovascular risk.

The features of carotid atherosclerosis in ketosis-onset diabetes have not been investigated. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of carotid atherosclerosis in newly diagnosed Chinese diabetic patients with ketosis but without islet-associated autoantibodies.

Background: As an indicator of abdominal obesity, waist circumference (WC) varied with race and gender in diagnosing metabolic syndrome (MetS). Therefore, it is clinically important to find an alternative indicator of abdominal obesity independent of these factors to diagnose MetS. Our aims were to evaluate the association between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and MetS and further determine whether WHtR could be used as a simple and practical alternative to WC to diagnose MetS in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods: This cross-sectional, real-world study recruited 8488 hospitalized T2DM patients including 3719 women (43.8%) aged from 18 to 94 years and 4769 men (56.2%) aged from 18 to 91 years. A WHtR cut-off of 0.52 was used to diagnose MetS in both men and women T2DM patients based on our previous study. The association of WHtR with MetS in T2DM patients was analyzed by binary logistic regression. The consistency of two diagnostic criteria for MetS according to WC and WHtR was determined by Kappa test.Results: The prevalence of MetS according to WHtR was 79.4% in women and 68.6% in men T2DM patients, which was very close to the prevalence of MetS according to WC in both women (82.6%) and men (68.3%). The prevalence of MetS diagnosed by WC in both men and women with WHtR ≥ 0.52 was significantly higher than in those with WHtR < 0.52 after adjustment for age and duration of diabetes (89.2 vs. 38.7% for men; 92.8 vs. 57.4% for women; respectively, all p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis displayed that after adjusting for confounding factors, WHtR was significantly associated with the presence of MetS in both men and women (men: OR = 4.821, 95% CI: 3.949–5.885; women: OR = 3.096, 95% CI: 2.484–3.860; respectively, all p < 0.001). Kappa test revealed that there was an excellent consistency between the diagnosis of MetS based on WC and on WHtR in T2DM patients (men: kappa value = 0.929, 95% CI: 0.918–0.940; women: kappa value = 0.874, 95% CI: 0.854–0.894; total: kappa value = 0.911, 95% CI: 0.901–0.921; respectively, all p < 0.001).Conclusion: WHtR is independently associated with the presence of MetS and can be used as a simple and practical alternative to WC to diagnose MetS regardless of gender in T2DM patients.

Low-grade albuminuria is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and mortality. Our aim was to investigate the association between low-grade albuminuria and carotid atherosclerotic lesions in community-based patients with type 2 diabetes. A cross-sectional study was performed in 475 community-based patients with type 2 diabetes (190 males and 285 females) with normal urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratios (UACR) (< 3.5 mg/mmol) from Shanghai, China. The subjects were stratified into tertiles based on UACR levels (the lowest tertile was UACR ≤ 1.19 mg/mmol, and the highest tertile was UACR ≥ 2 mg/mmol). Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), carotid atherosclerotic plaque formation and stenosis were assessed and compared among the three groups based on ultrasonography. The urinary albumin excretion rate was determined as the mean of the values obtained from three separate early morning urine samples. Compared with the subjects with UACR in the lowest tertile, the subjects with UACR in the middle and highest tertiles had greater CIMT values (0.88 ± 0.35 mm, 0.99 ± 0.43 mm and 1.04 ± 0.35 mm, respectively; all p < 0.05) and a higher prevalence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques (25.3%, 39.0% and 46.2%, respectively; all p < 0.05) after adjusting for sex and age. Fully adjusted multiple linear regression and logistic regression analyses revealed that UACR tertiles were significantly associated with elevated CIMT (p = 0.007) and that, compared with the subjects in the first tertile of UACR, those in the second and third tertiles had 1.878- and 2.028-fold risk of carotid plaques, respectively. However, there was no statistical association between UACR tertile and the prevalence of carotid stenosis. Higher UACR within the normal range was independently associated with early but not late carotid atherosclerotic lesions in community-based patients with type 2 diabetes. Low-grade albuminuria contributes to the risk of carotid atherosclerosis and may be used as an early marker for the detection of atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.