HbA1c Identifies Subjects With Prediabetes and Subclinical Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction.

Context: Prediabetes is associated with subclinical cardiac changes associated with heart failure development.

Objective: We investigated diastolic function and its association with markers of glycation and inflammation related to cardiovascular disease in patients with prediabetes. We focused on individuals with prediabetes identified only by glycated hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c; 5.7% to 6.4% and normal fasting glucose (NFG) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)].

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Departments of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Cardiology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.

Main Outcome Measures: HbA1c, OGTT, Doppler echocardiography, soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGEs), and endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE) were evaluated.

Patients: We recruited 167 subjects with NFG/NGT who were stratified according to HbA1c level: controls (HbA1c <5.7%) and HbA1c prediabetes (HbA1c 5.7% to 6.4%).

Results: Patients with HbA1c prediabetes (n = 106) showed a lower peak mitral inflow in early diastole (E wave) to late diastolic atrial filling velocity (A wave) ratio (E/A ratio) than controls (n = 61) (1.10 ± 0.24 vs 1.18 ± 0.23; P < 0.05). They showed a higher left atrium volume (LAV) (28.4 ± 5 vs 22.1 ± 3; P < 0.05) and sphericity index (SI) (0.6 ± 0.06 vs 0.5 ± 0.05; P < 0.05). After multiple regression analyses, HbA1c, sRAGE, and esRAGE were the major determinants of E/A ratio, LAV, and SI.

Conclusions: Subjects with HbA1c prediabetes exhibited subclinical cardiac alterations associated with sRAGE, esRAGE, and HbA1c. These subjects would not have been classified as having prediabetes on the basis of fasting glycemia or post-OGTT values.