The relationship between serum lipid, lipoprotein, and apolipoprotein levels and abnormalities of renal function has been investigated in 112 insulin-dependent (type I) diabetic patients. They were subdivided into three matched groups according to the amount of albuminuria: group A (albuminuria less than 20 micrograms/min), group B (albuminuria between 20 and 150 micrograms/min; Albustix negative), and group C (albuminuria greater than 150 micrograms/min; Albustix positive). Twenty-one nondiabetic subjects with albuminuria above 150 micrograms/min but without nephrotic syndrome and/or renal failure and 77 healthy subjects were also studied. Mean total and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and apo B were higher, while HDL cholesterol and HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio were lower in group C than in groups A and B; the apo A/apo B ratio was lower in group C than in group A. Differences in apo B and in apo A/apo B ratio were found between groups A and B. No correlation between lipid parameters and amount of albuminuria was observed. Significant differences in lipid concentrations were also found in diabetic patients when compared with nondiabetic subjects with albuminuria and with healthy subjects. The present study confirmed previous reports of lipid disorders in insulin-dependent (type I) diabetes; however, the most important observation was the finding of albuminuria-related differences in lipid parameters in diabetic patients without renal failure. We think that the greater lipid abnormalities observed in diabetic patients with larger amounts of albuminuria might be the consequence both of impairment of glomerular permeability and of the diabetic state.

It is widely accepted that diabetic patients, above all poorly controlled ones, are more susceptible to infection. To verify whether diabetes might be considered a pro-infective risk factor in total hip replacement, 1,042 patients, who from 1969 to 1979 underwent an operation for arthropros thesis of the hip, were studied. The patients were subdivided into two groups according to whether they were diabetic or not. The diabetic patients, though well controlled by diet or by diet plus oral hypoglycemic agents, received insulin for at least two days before surgery. In the early post-operative phase they showed transient worsening of glycemic control rapidly corrected by increased insulin dosage. The patients of both groups were operated in low air exchange operating theaters, by the same staff and using standardized surgical techniques, and all received antibiotic coverage as preventive treatment against infections for a week after surgery. Infection and suppuration occurred in 11% of diabetic patients and only in 2% of non-diabetic patients (p less than 0.001); in these cases the prostheses were removed after unsuccessful antimicrobial treatment. Our study indicates that diabetes mellitus must be considered a proinfective risk factor in patients who undergo an operation for total hip replacement and suggests that a conservative approach is required in diabetic patients.

To evaluate the effect of improved metabolic control on kidney function, urinary excretion rate of beta-2-microglobulin, lysozyme, and gamma-glutamyltransferase were evaluated in nine poorly controlled, newly diagnosed diabetic patients before and during treatment. In six poorly controlled insulin-dependent nephropathic diabetic patients, besides the parameters cited above, urinary albumin excretion rate and IgG/transferrin clearance ratio were further investigated to estimate the permeability and the selectivity of glomerular barrier during conventional treatment and after improvement of the metabolic control by a glucose-controlled insulin infusion system (GCIIS). The improved glycemic control resulted in a significant reduction of urinary beta-2-microglobulin and lysozyme excretion in all diabetic patients. Significant decreases of urinary albumin excretion and of IgG/transferrin clearance ratio (indicating a more selective proteinuria) during strict metabolic control were also observed in nephropathic diabetic patients. The reduction of urinary beta-2-microglobulin and lysozyme excretion indicates that a tubular reabsorptive dysfunction, reversible with the amelioration of glycemic control, can be observed in poorly controlled, newly diagnosed and in insulin-dependent nephropathic diabetic patients during conventional treatment. In the latter patients, the permeability and the selectivity properties of glomerular barrier also improved during GCIIS.

No abstract