Microalbuminuria in smoking insulin-treated diabetics without manifest nephropathy

ABSTRACT

Urinary albumin excretion [UAE] was estimated in forty insulin- treated diabetic patients with a diabetes duration not exceeding twenty years. Twenty of them were cigarette smokers [all were males with mean age of 29.5 +/- 3 years and mean duration of diabetes of 8.3 +/- 5.1 years] and twenty were non-smokers [twelve males and eight females with mean age of 28.6 +/- 2.1 years and mean duration of diabetes was 7.8 +/- 3.8 years]. Microalbuminuria [UAE = 30-300 mg/24 h] was much more prevalent in smokers and significant at higher level than non-smokers [99.8 +/- 75.8 vs 26.9 +/- 15.1]. UAE was significantly higher in patients with long duration of diabetes [ten- twenty years] than patients with short duration [zero-nine years] [169.3 +/- 46 vs 42.9 +/- 36.8]. Smoking diabetes with increased UAE had significantly younger age at onset [20 +/- 3 years], longer duration of diabetes [10.7 +/- 4.7 years] and higher smoking index than smoking diabetics with normal UAE [177.3 +/- 117.9 vs 73 +/- 2.9]. This study suggested that smoking diabetics with younger age at onset and duration of diabetes more than ten years are at higher risk to develop microalbuminuria and hence nephropathy than nonsmoking diabetics