The risk factors associated with ultrasonic tissue characterization of carotid plaque in type 2 diabetic patients

Abstract Aims Little is known about the related factors of plaque echogenicity in diabetic subjects. Methods This was a single-center, retrospective, study investigating a subgroup of patients of a previously published trial. We enrolled 179 middle-aged and older Japanese type 2 diabetic patients with carotid plaque, and examined the parameters related with echogenicity of carotid plaque evaluated by gray-scale median (GSM). Results Proportion of males and body mass index (BMI) were significantly higher and HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower in the patients with low GSM (< 48) plaques ( n = 89) as compared to those without it ( n = 90). A multiple logistic regression analysis with gender, BMI, and HDL-cholesterol as independent variables and the presence of low GSM plaques as an objective variable showed that male (odds ratio (OR) 2.36, 95%CI 1.05–5.31, p = 0.037) and BMI (OR 1.12 [1.01–1.24], p = 0.029) were independently associated with low GSM plaques. Another multiple logistic regression analysis with gender, BMI, and low-HDL–cholesterolemia (HDL-C < 40 mg/dl) as independent variables showed that low-HDL–cholesterolemia (OR 2.30 [1.03–5.13], p = 0.042) and BMI (OR 1.11 [1.00–1.22], p = 0.046) were independently associated with low GSM plaques. Conclusions Our study suggests that gender, BMI and low-HDL-cholesterol are important determinants of the content of the vascular wall in diabetic subjects.