They detect a biomarker that identifies vascular aging in patients with diabetes

• Researchers from the I3PT, the IMIM-Hospital del Mar and the IISPV describe a biomarker in the blood of patients with type 1 diabetes that makes it possible to identify the degree of premature vascular aging associated with the risk of complications in various organs

A team of researchers led by the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT) has described a biomarker in the blood of patients with type 1 diabetes that allows us to know the deterioration of their arteries.

Patients with diabetes have a premature aging of your arteries, so that it is increasingly difficult for blood to reach your tissues and this causes the organs to stop working properly. This can end up causing microvascular complications -with affectation in organs such as the eyes or kidneys-, i macrovascular complications -which can trigger heart or brain attacks-.

This study, published in the journal Diabetes Care - the most important in the world in this area - describes a new biomarker that, through a blood analysis, allows detecting vascular aging in people with type 1 diabetes before it is identified by the classic methods currently available. This is very relevant because it allows detect as early as possible the risks of vascular complications in various vital organs. The WHO estimates that there are currently more than 9 million people in the world with type 1 diabetes.

New contributions in clinical research

The publication of this work is the result of the collaboration of the I3PT research teams, together with the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM-Hospital del Mar) and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV), thanks to funding from the Carlos III Health Institute, within the framework of the Center for Biomedical Research in the Network of Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM). As the main researcher of the study, José Miguel González Clemente, of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Parc Taulí University Hospital, head of the group, points out Diabetes-cardiovascular risk of I3PT and member of group SGR 1221 of the IISPV, the "work contains several new contributions".

On the one hand, the concept of “early vascular aging in type 1 diabetes”, which would be at the base of all vascular complications in these patients. "This aging can be determined with a simple test that measures the speed at which pulse waves travel between the carotid and femoral arteries. This rate increases as the wall of the large arteries stiffens, which is known as arterial stiffness”, explains the researcher.

"Today we know that as arterial stiffness increases, a series of processes take place that first affect the retina, followed by the kidneys and then damage to the arteries of the heart and brain, the main causes of morbidity and mortality in these patients This has caused it to set the focus on the arterial wall as a new target organ to be considered early in the population with type 1 diabetes” he emphasizes.

A second new aspect of the study is the use of leading techniques such as metabolomics to measure blood protein fractions, not quantifiable with conventional technology, which have been shown to provide early and relevant information about the state of chronic inflammation accompanying arterial stiffness in these patients. With her you can to better identify people with type 1 diabetes who have a greater degree of vascular ageing, explains Gemma Llauradó, member of the research group on cardiovascular risk and nutrition at the IMIM-Hospital del Mar and assistant doctor at the Hospital del Mar's Endocrinology and Nutrition Service.

Thirdly, as the research team points out, the assessment of vascular aging in patients with type 1 diabetes is crucial to be able to detect as early as possible a greater risk of vascular complications in various organs. "The work sheds a little more light in this regard, which will contribute to more personalized medicine in type 1 diabetes and better management of resources in the health system", points out Joan J. Vendrell, head of the Service d 'Endocrinology and Nutrition and head of the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (DIAMET) research group of the IISPV.