Increased plasma concentrations of various markers of endothelial damage have been observed in type I diabetic patients, particularly in those with microangiopathy.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of near-normalisation of glycaemic control on different markers of endothelial injury involved in haemostasis in poorly-controlled type 1 diabetic patients.
Material and methods: TFPI, thrombomodulin (TM), plasminogen activator inhibitor, tissue-type plasminogen activator and von Willebrand factor were measured in 14 poorly-controlled type 1 diabetic patients free of diabetes-related complications (8 men, 6 women; mean age 29.8 +/- 9.9 years) before (baseline) and after 3 months of intensive therapy and in 14 sex-, age- and BMI-matched control subjects.
Results: After a mean follow-up of 107 +/- 49 days (56-210), HbA1c decreased from 11.2 +/- 2.3 to 6.7 +/- 0.7% (p <0.0001). TFPI activity at baseline was higher than in the control group (126.9 +/- 34 vs 92.0 +/- 13%, p <0.005) and decreased after good glycaemic control was achieved (p <0.005), becoming similar to that in the control group (91.0 +/- 16.5%). The TFPI descent correlated with the variations observed in HbA1c (p <0.05; r = 0.54). TM levels at baseline were significantly higher than in the control group (42.3 +/- 9.1 vs 29.00 +/- 10.9; p <0.005) and did not change. The remaining parameters studied were similar between patients and controls and did not change after glycaemic optimisation.
Conclusions: Optimisation of glycaemic control normalises the increased activity of TFPI but not the higher TM levels observed in poorly-controlled type I diabetic patients without chronic complications.