Plasma brain natriuretic peptide levels in normotensive Type 2 diabetic patients without cardiac disease and macroalbuminuria

To clarify the relationship of the plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels to diabetic complications, we studied plasma BNP levels in 100 normotensive diabetic patients without clinical cardiac disease and macroalbuminuria. The values of plasma BNP levels were not significantly different between patients with microalbuminuria and those with nonnoalbuminuria (12.2 +/- 2.0 vs. 12.3 +/- 1.3 pg/ml, means +/- S.E.M.), and neither were the BNP levels of patients with and without retinopathy significantly different (15.7 +/- 3.4 vs. 11.4 +/- 1.0 pg/ ml). BNP levels of the subjects with cerebral vascular disease (CVD) were not statistically different from those of subjects without CVD (17.5 +/- 5.5 vs. 11.7 +/- 1.0 pg/ml), although mean BNP value of subjects with CVD was higher than that of subjects without it. With regard to peripheral vascular disease (PVD), BNP levels of the subjects with PVD were not statistically different from those of subjects without PVD (13.5 +/- 2.3 vs. 12.1 +/- 1.2 pg/ml). We also studied radial arterial oxygen tension of 45 patients and compared these levels between those with and without diabetic complications. However, we could not find statistical differences between them. In conclusion, our study suggests that BNP and arterial oxygen tension levels will not be affected by retinopathy, microalbuminuria, CVD, and PVD in normotensive diabetic patients without clinical cardiac disease and macroalbuminuria. Therefore, when normotensive diabetic patients without macro-albuminuria show increased plasma level of BNP, we should examine their cardiac function in detail, considering subclinical cardiac disease. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.