Plasma prekallikrein may be vascular risk factor in T1DM

(HealthDay)—Plasma prekallikrein (PK) is associated with vascular disease risk in type 1 diabetes, according to a study published online Nov. 24 in Diabetes.

Miran A. Jaffa, Ph.D., from the University of Beirut, and colleagues measured circulating levels of plasma PK activity in the plasma of 636 subjects with type 1 diabetes from the Epidemiology and Diabetes Intervention and Complications (EDIC) cohort (EDIC years three to five). They measured common and internal carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in EDIC years one and six.

The researchers observed a positive correlation for plasma PK levels with body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides, but not with age, sex, diabetes duration, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. There was a consistent correlation between plasma PK and progression of internal carotid IMT in univariate models and multivariable models after adjustment for other risk factors. Plasma PK was significantly associated with progression of both internal and combined IMT in multivariate analysis. Compared to those with plasma PK levels in the lower 10th percentile, subjects with plasma PK levels in the highest 10th percentile had higher mean internal carotid IMT levels (P = 0.048).

"These novel findings implicate plasma PK as a risk factor for vascular disease in type 1 diabetes," the authors write.