Renal AA Amyloidosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease and a major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Inflammation is closely involved in the pathogenesis of T2DM, and reactive amyloidosis occurs in the presence of chronic inflammation. We hypothesized that patients with T2DM may have a higher prevalence of renal AA amyloidosis (RAAA) and that this could contribute to worse atherosclerosis and CVD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 330 autopsy kidneys from patients with a previous T2DM diagnosis. The kidney tissue was evaluated in order to determine the presence of diabetic nephropathy and RAAA, and systemic vessels were evaluated for the presence of atherosclerosis. RESULTS: RAAA was detected in 9% of our study population and was associated with an increased risk for nodular sclerosis [OR (95% CI)] [11 (2.04-59.16)], for chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy [4.59 (2.02-10.42)], for myocardial infarction [3.41 (1.52-7.64)] as well as for aortic [4.75 (1.09-20.69)], coronary [3.22 (1.47-7.04)], and intrarenal atherosclerosis [3.84 (1.46-10.09)]. CONCLUSIONS: RAAA is prevalent in T2DM and is associated with worse CVD and renal disease, likely because RAAA is a marker of severe chronic inflammation.