Researchers in the United Kingdom have found a link between impaired glucose tolerance and microvascular and macrovascular function, as well as a direct association between retinal microcirculatory changes and established plasma markers for cardiovascular disease.

Sunni R. Patel, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at University Health Network in Toronto and former researcher for the Vascular Research Laboratory and Ophthalmic Research Group at the School of Life and Health Sciences at Aston University in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a study involving 60 age- and sex-matched white European adults, 30 with IGT and 30 with normal glucose tolerance.

Patients with IGT had higher blood pressure values (P<.001), fasting triglyceride levels and triglyceride-to-HDL ratios (P<.001) vs. patients with normal glucose tolerance. According to data, blood glutathione levels were lower (reduced glutathione, P<.001; glutathione disulfide, P=.039; and total glutathione, P<.001), whereas plasma von Willebrand factor was increased in patients with IGT when compared with the control group (P=.014).

Moreover, patients with IGT displayed higher intima-media thickness in the right (P=.017) and left carotid arteries (P=.005) and larger brachial artery diameter (P=.015). Patients with IGT also had lower flow-mediated dilation percentage (P=.026) and glyceryl trinitrate-induced dilation (P=.012) than healthy control patients.

“The results of our pilot study suggest that IGT individuals demonstrate signs of early vascular dysfunction as measured by functional (at macro- and microcirculatory levels) and circulatory markers. Moreover, in addition to a relationship between functional macro- and microvascular parameters, there appears to be a direct correlation between the observed retinal microcirculatory changes and established plasma markers for CVD risk,” the researchers wrote.

Due to these observations, researchers wrote that there should be a possible emphasis on early CV screenings and interventions for those with a prediabetes diagnosis, including those with IGT.

“Retinal vascular imaging could emerge as a possible future option for individual risk stratification in diseased patients but also in individuals at risk for metabolic and CV pathologies,” the researchers wrote.

Source: Endocrine Today.