Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Peripheral Arterial Disease in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a manifestation of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and significantly increases the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. As most patients with PAD are asymptomatic, this condition is largely neglected in clinical practice. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients have higher prevalence of PAD. Therefore, early detection and intervention of diabetic PAD are very important. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of interrelated metabolic risk factors, a predictor of poor prognosis in elderly patients with ASCVD. Recently, many of the metabolic risk factors as well as the overall concept of MetS itself have sparked a great deal of debate regarding their precise roles in PAD. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). METHODS: Two hundred and eighty-one elderly T2DM patients admitted to Beijing Tongren Hospital from October 2016 to December 2017 were divided into PAD group (n=136) and non-PAD (NPAD) group (n=145). Their medical records, physical examination parameters and laboratory testing parameters were later recorded and analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference was detected in general clinical data and laboratory testing parameters between the two groups (P>0.05). The incidence of MetS was significantly higher in PAD group than in NPAD group (88.2% vs 70.3%, P=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of PAD was 1.762-fold higher in MetS patients after adjustment for age, sex, history of smoking and alcohol consumption, WC, SBP, serum TC and HbA1c level, eGFR and duration of DM (95% CI: 1.205–6.330, P=0.016). CONCLUSION: MetS closely correlates with PAD in elderly T2DM patients, though no significant difference has been detected in their metabolic indicators.