Identifying coronary artery disease in men with type 2 diabetes: osteoprotegerin, pulse wave velocity, and other biomarkers of cardiovascular risk.

Objectives: In patients with type 2 diabetes, high serum levels of osteoprotegerin (OPG) have been associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular events. However, it remains unclear how well OPG performs when compared with traditional biomarkers of cardiovascular risk such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Furthermore, OPG levels are also high in the presence of diabetes-related microvascular disease, and it is unclear whether OPG can distinguish microvascular disease from large-vessel atherosclerosis. The first aim of this study was to compare OPG levels against other biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in the identification of patients with documented multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). The second aim was to compare OPG levels in patients with microvascular complications (microalbuminuria) against those with established CAD.

Methods: Three groups of male patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited: patients without microvascular complications or large-vessel atherosclerosis (n = 24), patients with microalbuminuria only (n = 23), and patients with microalbuminuria and documented multivessel CAD (n = 25). OPG, hsCRP, interleukin 6, urate, and pulse wave velocity were measured.

Results: Serum OPG levels were significantly higher in patients with a combination of microalbuminuria and CAD than in those with microalbuminuria alone. There were no significant differences in any of the other biomarkers between the groups.

Conclusion: OPG was found to be superior to the other biomarkers studied in identifying patients with documented CAD. The presence of CAD was a greater determinant of serum OPG levels than microalbuminuria in our population. These findings support the use of OPG as a biomarker of cardiovascular risk.