The relationship between serum lipid levels and diabetic kidney injury in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Abstract Background: Diabetic kidney injury (DKI), a complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and a risk factor for the cardiovascular events, is affected by many metabolic factors, including dyslipidemia. This study investigated the relationship between serum lipid levels and DKI in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Gorgan, north of Iran. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 218 patients with T2DM in two groups with and without DKI as case and control groups, respectively. A questionnaire was used to gather demographic information, and the necessary laboratory results, such as fasting serum lipid levels, urine albumin, fasting plasma glucose, and serum creatinine, were also assessed. For group comparison, the Mann-Whitney test, Fisher's exact test, and Chi-square test were used. Results: The results of this study did not show any statistically significant relationship between DKI and serum lipid levels (p>0.05). However, DKI was associated with age, duration of DM, type of glucose-lowering drugs, and body mass index (BMI) (p≤0.05). Discussion and Conclusions: DKI is not significantly related to the serum lipid levels in the patients with T2DM, but older age, longer duration of DM, insulin-indicated hyperglycemia, and lower BMI are associated with it. Therefore, further attention to each of the associated factors may be helpful in the earlier detection of DKI in patients with T2DM.