Microalbuminuria and Its Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy is one of the dreaded complications of diabetes leading to chronic kidney disease and end stage renal failure globally. Microalbuminuria is the most sensitive marker of early recognition of the diabetic nephropathy. This study was carried out to find out the prevalence and potential risk factors of microalbuminuria which is the marker of diabetic nephropathy among diabetes patients in Nepal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 227 in T2DM patients in private diabetic clinics and Bir hospital in Kathmandu. Data were collected using standard questionnaire format to collect demography, anthropometry, and laboratory assessment of, HbA1c, post prandial, fasting glucose and micro albumin in urine. Micro albuminuria was measured using early morning urine specimen. Micro albuminuria was considered positive when urinary albumin to creatinine ratio was found to be 30-300 mg/g creatinine in preferably an early morning or a spot urine sample. The entire lab test will be done by applying the internationally accepted standards of tools and techniques.Those that were reported >30mg/mL of micro albumin were considered as positive. RESULTS:   Out of total 217 diabetic patients, 56.2% (122/217) were male and 43.8% (95/217) were female. Among all age groups, maximum patients enrolled were between the age group 41 to 80 (95%).Of the total, 20% (44/217)) patientswereMA positive. A statistical significant association was seen between MA and BMI (p=0.029), duration of DM (p=<0.001, hypertension (p=<0.001, smoking (p=<0.001) and physical activity (p=<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic patients in Nepal have prevalence of 20.3% microalbuminurea. Hypertension, obesity, sedentary lifestyles, duration more than 5 years of illness are found the most important risk factors for the development of microalbuminurea in diabetes.     Keywords:  Mellitus; microalbuminuria; type 2 diabetes.

Prevalence of Non-insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus Among Patients with Cholelithiasis: A Single-centered, Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction Gallstone disease (GD) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the west and most of the countries worldwide. Cholelithiasis and diseases of the biliary tract are becoming more prevalent with the socioeconomic burden in developing countries like Pakistan. GD is a chronic, recurrent hepatobiliary disease, the basis of which is the impaired metabolism of cholesterol, bilirubin, and bile acids, which is characterized by the formation of gallstones in the hepatic bile duct, common bile duct, or gallbladder. Epidemiologic studies have shown that individuals with diabetes have a higher risk of cholelithiasis but only a few studies have been done in Pakistan to establish the association so far. Hence, the aim of the present study is to establish the association between diabetes and gallstone disease. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Liaquat University Civil Hospital, Hyderabad, Pakistan, between February 2017 and August 2017. Patients between the ages of 10 and 70 from either sex, who were diagnosed with cholelithiasis were included in this study whereas those patients who underwent cholecystectomy previously were excluded. Diabetic cases were identified based on fasting glucose levels (FGL) and the serum levels of HbA1c. An interview-based questionnaire was employed to collect the patient's demographic profile and risk factors by the students. Informed consent was taken from all the study subjects and the confidentiality of the data was ensured. Results From the sample size of patients evaluated (a total of 204), based on investigative studies performed, 74 cholelithiatic patients (36.6%) were found to concurrently have diabetes as well. Among the 74 patients with both cholelithiasis and diabetes type-2 (NIDDM), 56 were female and 18 were males. The rest of the patients with cholelithiasis were found to be non-diabetic (78 were males and 52 female). The majority of the GD patients (51 (25 males and 26 females)) in the study sample was in the 50-60 age group. The mean age of the patients was 43 ± 12.1. In this study, we measured the fasting glucose levels (FGL). According to World Health Organization (WHO) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria, we categorized 85 of the GD patients to be non-diabetic with serum fasting glucose levels between 70 and 100 gm/dL, and 45 patients were categorized to be in the pre-diabetic group with FGL levels between 100 and 126. Out of the 204 samples with GD, we found that 74 patients have diabetes, with serum FGL >126mg/dL. We measured HbA1c from each individual in the study sample. It was found that 79 patients had HbA1c levels <5.5, they are categorised as non-diabetic according to WHO and ADA criteria, 51 patients had values between 5.5 and 6.5 (pre-diabetic), and 35 GD patients had HbA1c values between 6.5 and 7.5 (categorized as diabetics with good control) and 39 patients with HbA1c above 7.5 (diabetes with poor control). Conclusion In this study, we concluded that there is a higher prevalence of NIDDM in GD patients and there is an association between GD and NIDDM. This study also reiterated the association between obesity and GD. Female sex and advancing age also contribute to the formation of cholelethiasis. Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption further worsen cholelithiasis but are not established primary risk factors.