Silent myocardial ischaemia and risk factors in a diabetic Afro-Caribbean population.

AIMS: In Guadeloupe, an island in the French West Indies, diabetes has a prevalence recently reported to be 10%. Myocardial ischaemia is more frequently silent in diabetics, and needs to be screened for and monitored, once identified. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI) in a diabetic population and to analyze its associated cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 147 patients with associated CVR factors, defined according to the 2004 SFC/ALFEDIAM guidelines. Exercise stress tests, myocardial performance imaging and stress echocardiography were performed. Ancova and logistic regression were used in the statistical analyses. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 62 years, and 53% were male. Mean duration of diabetes was 14 years. Overall, 23.1% had SMI, and these patients more frequently had a personal history of cardiovascular disease vs those without SMI. On multivariate logistic-regression analyses, the adjusted odds ratios of SMI were significantly increased in patients with a personal history of cardiovascular disease (4.36, 95% CI: 1.36-13.96; P=0.01) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (2.46, 95% CI: 1.03-5.86; P=0.04). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of SMI in our Afro-Caribbean diabetic population was 23.1%. Searching for a personal history of cardiovascular disease and LVH may help to identify patients who need to be screened for SMI.

Vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular risk factors in Caribbean patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM: The prevalence of diabetes in the French West Indies is three times higher than in mainland France. We aimed to assess the associations between vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular risk factors in Caribbean patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of 277 patients, 25-hydroxyvitamin D was measured by radioimmunoassay. FokI, BsmI, ApaI and TaqI single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the VDR gene were genotyped. Analysis of covariance and logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: The study included 76 patients of Indian descent and 201 patients of African descent. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) was 42.6%. When patients were classified into groups with (G1) and without (G2) vitamin D deficiency, there were no significant differences in age, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and HbA(1c), although body mass index was significantly higher in G1. Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with increased diastolic blood pressure and triglyceride levels, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.05). Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was decreased in patients carrying the f allele of FokI (OR: 0.52; P=0.02) and the aa genotype of ApaI (OR: 0.46; P=0.05). BsmI and TaqI SNPs were not associated with vitamin D deficiency. CONCLUSION: The rate of vitamin D deficiency was high in our T2D patients, and was associated with the VDR gene FokI and ApaI polymorphisms and cardiovascular risk profile. Measurements of vitamin D may help to detect T2D patients with cardiovascular risk, and VDR polymorphisms might explain why vitamin D deficiency is so frequently seen in some T2D patients.