Lower Plasma Albumin, Higher White Blood Cell Count and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein are Associated with Femoral Artery Intima-Media Thickness Among Newly Diagnosed Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

INTRODUCTION: Low albumin levels, high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and high white blood cell count were risk factors for changes in arterial intima-media thickness (IMT). Femoral artery IMT damages were one of the common peripheral artery type 2 diabetes. This study was conducted to determine the association between femoral artery IMT and plasma albumin, hs-CRP levels, and white blood cell count in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2D). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2015 to May 2020, 306 patients with nT2D were recruited for this cross-sectional descriptive study at Vietnam’s National Endocrinology Hospital. We measured IMT by Doppler ultrasound. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in albumin, hs-CRP levels, hs-CRP-to-albumin ratio, and white blood cell counts between three different IMT groups namely normal IMT, thick IMT, and atherosclerosis (p = 0.003, p = 0.001, p = 0.001 and p = 0.049, respectively). In the multivariate linear regression analysis, white blood cell count, and hs-CRP levels showed a significantly positive correlation to IMT (standardized B and p of 0.17, 0.015 and 0.163, 0.024, respectively), but albumin levels were a significantly negative correlation to IMT (standardized B = –0.151, p = 0.029). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that albumin (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.65–0.90, p = 0.018), hs-CRP (OR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.01–1.18, p = 0.026), and white blood cell count (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.03–1.81, p = 0.033) had correlation to atherosclerosis of femoral artery. CONCLUSION: Reduced plasma albumin, elevated hs-CRP, and white blood cell count associated with IMT increased the odds for atherosclerosis of femoral artery among nT2D.