Glucose tolerance status and severity of coronary artery disease in men referred to coronary arteriography

• Published in: The American heart journal 1997-06, Vol.133 (6), p.622-629
• Main Authors: Seibaek, Marie, Sloth, Carsten, Vallebo, Lili, Hansen, Torben, Urhammer, Søren A., Burchardt, Hans, Torp-Pedersen, Christian, Pedersen, Oluf, Hildebrandt, Per
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Albuminuria - complications; Albuminuria - metabolism; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Glucose - analysis; C-Peptide - blood; Cardiology. Vascular system; Case-Control Studies; Coronary Angiography; Coronary Artery Disease - blood; Coronary Artery Disease - complications; Coronary Artery Disease - diagnostic imaging; Coronary Artery Disease - metabolism; Coronary Disease - blood; Coronary Disease - complications; Coronary Disease - diagnostic imaging; Coronary Disease - metabolism; Coronary heart disease; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - metabolism; Glucose - metabolism; Glucose Tolerance Test; Heart; Humans; Hyperinsulinism - complications; Insulin - blood; Insulin Resistance; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Myocardial Ischemia - complications; Myocardial Ischemia - metabolism; Prevalence; Proinsulin - blood
• ISSN: 0002-8703; 1097-6744
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-8703(97)70163-7

Increasing attention is being paid to disturbances in glucose metabolism as key explanatory factors for the development of coronary artery disease. We studied the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and non-insulin-dependent diabetes and the levels of plasma insulin after an oral glucose tolerance test in 99 men with heart disease but without a history of diabetes referred to coronary arteriography; we also compared the outcome with a matched control group ( n = 116). The severity of atherosclerosis in coronary angiograms was evaluated according to glucose tolerance status. Among the 99 patients with coronary artery disease, 37.4% had an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test result, whereas only 18.1% of the control group had an abnormal result ( p < 0.01). Moreover, patients with heart disease and normal glucose tolerance were hyperinsulinemic compared with the control group ( p < 0.01). By analysis of variance no statistically significant difference in severity of coronary atherosclerosis on coronary angiograms was found. In conclusion, we demonstrated frequent disturbances in glucose metabolism indicating insulin resistance in patients with ischemic heart disease without a history of diabetes, but we could not demonstrate a relation between these disturbances and degree of coronary atherosclerosis. (Am Heart J 1997;133:622-9.)