Our data are in keeping with the hypothesis that simvastatin might be used as an additional means to preserve renal function in microalbuminuric hypercholesterolemic type 2 diabetic patients.

The minimal model is widely used to evaluate insulin action on glucose disappearance from frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests (FSIGT). The common protocols are a regular (rFSIGT, single injection of 0.3 g/kg of glucose) and an insulin-modified test (mFSIGT, with an additional insulin administration at 20 min). This study compared the insulin sensitivity index (SI) and glucose effectiveness (SG) obtained in the same individual (16 normal subjects) with the two tests. SI was 7.11 ± 0.80 10−4 ⋅ min−1 ⋅ μU−1 ⋅ ml in rFSIGT and 6.96 ± 0.83 in mFSIGT ( P = 0.656), regression r = 0.92, P < 0.0001; SG was 0.0260 ± 0.0028 min−1 and 0.0357 ± 0.0052, respectively, statistically different ( P = 0.013) but still with a good regression ( r = 0.66, P = 0.0051). SG and insulin amount during the early period correlated ( r = 0.6, P = 0.015 in rFSIGT and r = 0.76, P = 0.0006 in mFSIGT). In summary, both FSIGTs with minimal model analysis provide the same SI, which is a very robust index. SG was different by 28% due probably to the relationship between SG and the amount of circulating insulin. In studies comparing groups, the simpler rFSIGT can still be used with the advantage of accounting for endogenous insulin, thus offering the possibility of direct inferences on the β-cell activity.

Our results clearly show for the first time that the reduction of blood pressure, together with 24 h urinary albumin excretion rate - two established cardiovascular risk factors, obtained during Simvastatin therapy in hypertensive type 2 diabetic patients - is in large part independent from the reduction of LDL Cholesterol.

These data confirm the importance of collagen 4A4 as a component in the structural integrity of the glomerular basement membrane and confirm the phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of collagen disorders.