Effects of Small Dense LDL in Diabetic Nephropathy in Females with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between small-dense low-density lipoprotein (sdLDL) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: A total of 172 type 2 diabetic patients (95 men and 77 women) who had not taken lipid-lowering agents were enrolled in this study. Measured LDL cholesterol fractionates into seven parts (LDL1 through 7) according to the size and the extent of charge. Using this system, we analyzed mean LDL particle size and the proportion of sdLDL (the percent of LDL3 through 7 over whole LDL). DN was defined as the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥30 mg/g after excluding other causes of proteinuria. RESULTS: The mean LDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol size, proportion of sdLDL and ACR did not differ significantly between males and females. The presence of DN was negatively correlated with mean LDL size (r=-0.33, p value=0.02) and positively correlated with the proportion of sdLDL (r=0.34, p value=0.01) in females but not in males. After adjusting for other confounding factors related to DN, mean LDL size and proportion of sdLDL remained independent risk factors for DN in females [for mean LDL size, Odds ratio (OR)=0.86, 95% Confidence interval (CI)=0.77-0.96, p=0.01; for proportion of sdLDL, OR=1.07, 95% CI 1.10-1.12, p=0.01], but not in males. CONCLUSION: sdLDL is closely related to DN in female type 2 diabetic patients. Further studies are necessary to clarify the association of sdLDL and DN with gender.