Abstract

BACKGROUND
Type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome (MS) are associated with the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and with characteristic dyslipidemia which is composed of high level of triglyceride, low level of HDL-C and increased small dense LDL (sd-LDL). Recently a simple method was established for the quantification of sd-LDL-C using heparin-magnesium precipitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the sd-LDL-C and the number of components of MS in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: 287 type 2 diabetic patients, who did not use the medication which can affect the concentration of lipid such as statin, fibrate, thiazolidinediones and corticosteroid, were enrolled. The NCEP-ATP III criteria of MS were used except obesity. RESULTS: Although LDL-C concentrations were not changed according to the number of components of MS, absolute level and percentage of sd-LDL-C were increased. Although LDL-C concentrations were not different between presence and absence of MS, in the case of MS, absolute level and percentage of sd-LDL-C were higher than not in the case of MS. Sd-LDL-C concentration was positively correlated with fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C and percentage of sd-LDL-C, and negatively with HDL-C. The percentage of sd-LDL-C was positively correlated with total cholesterol, triglyceride and sd-LDL-C, and negatively with HDL-C. CONCLUSION: The sd-LDL-C may a factor that explains the higher risk of CVD in diabetic patients with the MS.

• Keywords: small dense LDL-C;precipitation method;metabolic syndrome;type 2 diabetes mellitus