Lipid profile abnormalities seen in T2DM patients in primary healthcare in Turkey: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and disturbances of carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. We aimed to research association between serum lipid profile and blood glucose, hypothesizing that early detection and treatment of lipid abnormalities can minimize the risk for atherogenic cardiovascular disorder and cerebrovascular accident in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

METHODS: Fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride (TG) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were evaluated. A hepatic ultrasound was performed for every diabetic to evaluate hepatosteatosis. The study was done from January 2014 to June 2014 among 132 patients with T2DM who were admitted to outpatient clinic of Family Medicine department in a university hospital. The patients whose taking multi-vitamin supplementation or having hepatic, renal or metabolic bone disorders (including parathyroid related problems) were excluded from the study for the reason that those conditions might affect the carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in diabetes. Test of significance was calculated by unpaired student's t test between cases and controls. Correlation studies (Pearson's correlation) were performed between the variables of blood glucose and serum lipid profile. Significance was set at p<0.05.

RESULTS: Results of serum lipid profile showed that the mean values for TC, TG, HDL and LDL in female patients were 227.6 ± 57.7 mg/dl, 221.6 ± 101.1 mg/dl, 31.5 ± 6.7 mg/dl and 136.5 ± 43.7 mg/dl, respectively. The mean values for TC, TG, HDL and LDL in male patients were 219.1 ± 34.7 mg/dl, 250.0 ± 100.7 mg/dl, 30.2 ± 7.4 mg/dl and 125.7 ± 21.4 mg/dl, respectively. Significantly higher mean serum levels of TC, TG and LDL and significantly lower mean serum levels of HDL were noted in patients with diabetes (p<0.001). FBG showed significant positive correlation with TC (p<0.05) and TG (p<0.05). Significant correlations were observed between serum levels of TC, TG, LDL and hepatosteatosis and HbA1c (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The study showed widespread lipid abnormalities in the course of diabetes triggered dyslipidemia as hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, elevated LDL and decreased HDL. This study proposes the predominance of hyperlipidemia over increased prevalence of diabetic dyslipidemia.