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Background It is not clear which glucose measure is more useful in the assessment of atherosclerosis. We investigated the associations of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), glycated albumin (GA), 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and 2-hour postload glucose (PG) with carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in community-dwelling Japanese subjects. Methods A total of 2702 subjects aged 40–79 years underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test and measurements of HbA1c, GA, 1,5-AG, and carotid IMT by ultrasonography in 2007–2008. Carotid wall thickening was defined as a maximum IMT of >1.0 mm. The crude and multivariable-adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used to analyze cross-sectional associations between levels of glycemic measures and carotid IMT. Results The crude average of the maximum IMT increased significantly with rising quartiles of HbA1c, GA, FPG, and 2-hour PG levels in subjects with and without glucose intolerance (GI), while no clear association was observed for 1,5-AG. After adjustment for other confounding factors, positive trends for HbA1c, GA, and FPG (all p for trend

Background There is little information about predictive ability of haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Asians. To investigate the discriminatory ability of HbA1c to identify subjects who are at greater risk of developing CVD in a prospective study of a defined community-dwelling Japanese population. Methods A total of 2,851 subjects aged 40–79 years were stratified into five groups (HbA1c levels with ≤ 5.0, 5.1–5.4, 5.5–6.4, and ≥ 6.5% and a group with antidiabetic medication) and followed up prospectively for 7 years (2002–2009). Results During the follow-up, 119 subjects developed CVD. The multivariable-adjusted risk of CVD was significantly increased in subjects with HbA1c levels of 5.5–6.4 and ≥ 6.5% and diabetic medication compared to HbA1c level with ≤ 5.0% (hazard ratio, 2.26 [95% confidence interval, 1.29–3.95] for the 5.5–6.4%; 4.43 [2.09–9.37] for the ≥ 6.5%; and 5.15 [2.65–10.0] for the antidiabetic medication group). With regard to CVD subtype, the positive associations between HbA1c levels and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and ischaemic stroke were also significant, but no such associations were seen for haemorrhagic stroke. The C statistic for developing CVD was significantly increased by adding HbA1c values to the model including other risk factors (0.789 vs. 0762, p = 0.006), and the net reclassification improvement was 0.105 (p = 0.004). Conclusions Our findings suggest that elevated HbA1c levels are an independent risk factor for CVD, especially CHD and ischaemic stroke, and that the addition of HbA1c to the model with traditional risk factors significantly improves the predictive ability of CVD.

Background Resistin, secreted from adipocytes, causes insulin resistance in mice. The relationship between resistin and coronary artery disease is highly controversial, and the information regarding resistin and ischemic stroke is limited. In the present study, the association between serum resistin concentration and cardiovascular disease (CVD) was investigated in a general Japanese population. Methods A total of 3,201 community-dwelling individuals aged 40 years or older (1,382 men and 1,819 women) were divided into quintiles of serum resistin, and the association between resistin and CVD was examined cross-sectionally. The combined effect of either diabetes or hypertension and high serum resistin was also assessed. Serum resistin was measured using ELISA. Results Compared to those without CVD, age- and sex-adjusted mean serum resistin concentrations were greater in subjects with CVD (p = 0.002) or ischemic stroke (p < 0.001), especially in those with lacunar and atherothrombotic infarction, but not elevated in subjects with hemorrhagic stroke or coronary heart disease. When analyzed by quintile of serum resistin concentration, the age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having CVD and ischemic stroke increased with quintile of serum resistin (p for trends, 0.02 for CVD, < 0.001 for ischemic stroke), while such associations were not observed for hemorrhagic stroke or coronary heart disease. Compared to the first quintile, the age- and sex-adjusted OR of ischemic stroke was greater in the third (OR = 3.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-10.67; p = 0.02), fourth (OR = 4.48; 95% CI, 1.53-13.09; p = 0.006), and fifth quintiles (OR = 4.70; 95% CI, 1.62-13.61; p = 0.004). These associations remained substantially unchanged even after adjustment for other confounding factors including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. In the stratified analysis, the combination of high serum resistin and either diabetes or hypertension markedly increased the risk of ischemic stroke. Conclusion Elevated serum resistin concentration appears to be an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke, especially lacunar and atherothrombotic infarction in the general Japanese population. The combination of high resistin and the presence of either diabetes or hypertension increased the risk of ischemic stroke.

Background There has been controversy over the diagnostic thresholds of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for diabetes. In addition, no study has examined the thresholds of glycated albumin (GA) and 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) for diagnosing diabetes using the presence of diabetic retinopathy (DR). We examined the optimal thresholds of various glycemic measures for diagnosing diabetes based on the prevalence of DR in community-dwelling Japanese subjects. Methods A total of 2,681 subjects aged 40-79 years underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test, measurement of HbA1c, GA, and 1,5-AG, and an ophthalmic examination in 2007-2008. The associations of glycemic measures with DR status were examined cross-sectionally. DR was assessed by an examination of the fundus photograph of each eye and graded according to the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Severity Scale. We divided the values of glycemic measures into ten groups on the basis of deciles. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal threshold of each glycemic measure for detecting the presence of DR. Results Of the subjects, 52 had DR. The prevalence of DR increased steeply above the ninth decile for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (6.2-6.8 mmol/l), for 2-hour postload glucose (PG) (9.2-12.4 mmol/l), for HbA1c (5.9-6.2% [41-44 mmol/mol]), and for GA (16.2-17.5%), and below the second decile for 1,5-AG (9.6-13.5 μg/mL). The ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal thresholds for DR were 6.5 mmol/l for FPG, 11.5 mmol/l for 2-hour PG, 6.1% (43 mmol/mol) for HbA1c, 17.0% for GA, and 12.1 μg/mL for 1,5-AG. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for 2-hour PG (0.947) was significantly larger than that for FPG (0.908), GA (0.906), and 1,5-AG (0.881), and was marginally significantly higher than that for HbA1c (0.919). The AUCs for FPG, HbA1c, GA, and 1,5-AG were not significantly different. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the FPG and HbA1c thresholds for diagnosing diabetes in the Japanese population are lower than the current diagnostic criterion, while the 2-hour PG threshold is comparable with the diagnostic criterion. 2-hour PG had the highest discriminative ability, whereas FPG, HbA1c, GA, and 1,5-AG were similar in their ability.