AIMS:
To determine among adolescents and young adults with youth-onset type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes the rates and risk factors for albuminuria regression and progression. The research hypothesis was that youth with type 2 diabetes would be more likely to show progression of albuminuria.
METHODS:
Data from SEARCH, a longitudinal observational study of youth-onset type 1 diabetes (N=1316) and type 2 diabetes (N=143) were analyzed. Urine albumin:creatinine ratio (UACR) was measured from random urine specimens at baseline and follow-up visits (mean 7 years later). Albuminuria regression was defined as halving of baseline UACR when baseline UACR was ≥30μg/mg; progression was defined as doubling of baseline UACR when follow-up UACR was ≥30μg/mg, respectively. Multivariable regression assessed risk factors associated with low-risk albuminuria category (combined persistently-low albuminuria and regression) versus moderate-risk albuminuria category (combined persistently-high albuminuria and progression).
RESULTS:
Albuminuria progression was more common in type 2 diabetes versus type 1 diabetes (15.4% versus 6.0%, p<0.001). Moderate-risk albuminuria was associated with increasing HbA1c (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.6) and lack of private health insurance (aOR=2.7, 95%CI 1.1–6.5) in type 1 diabetes; and African American race (OR=4.6, 95% CI 1.2–14.2), lower estimated insulin sensitivity score (aOR=2.1, 95% CI 1.4–3.3), baseline UACR (aOR=3.2, 95% CI 1.7–5.8), and follow-up estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (10-unit increase aOR=1.3, 95% CI 1.0, 1.5) in type 2 diabetes.
CONCLUSIONS:
In the first decade of diabetes duration, kidney complications in type 2 diabetes are significantly more aggressive than in type 1 diabetes and may be associated with less modifiable risk factors including race, insulin sensitivity, and eGFR. Interventions are needed even at very early stages of disease to reduce the long-term consequences of diabetic kidney disease in youth-onset diabetes.