Table 1 The main anthropometric and clinical characteristics of the study cohort

N. (%)

119

59 (49.6%)

60 (50.4%)

Age, years

63.6 ± 7.9

65.0 ± 8.4

62.1 ± 7.2

0.047

Duration of diabetes, years

11.8 ± 9.8

13.7 ± 10.7

9.8 ± 8.5

0.031

Sex (M/F), n (%)

69/50 (58/42)

25/34 (42/58)

44/16 (73/27)

0.001

BMI, kg/m²

28.8 ± 5.4

27.2 ± 5.8

30.4 ± 4.4

0.001

BMI categories (< 25, 25–30, > 30 kg/m²), n (%)

27/54/38 (22.7/45.4/31.9)

22/27/10 (37.3/45.8/16.9)

5/27/28 (8.3/45.0/46.7)

0.0001

Waist circumference, cm

102.4 ± 13.3

97.6 ± 14.0

107.2 ± 10.7

0.0001

Systolic BP, mmHg

145.6 ± 17.1

145.2 ± 15.8

146.0 ± 18.5

0.813

Diastolic BP, mmHg

79.5 ± 9.1

77.1 ± 8.9

81.9 ± 8.6

0.004

Hypertension, n (%)

90 (75.6)

40 (67.8)

50 (83.3)

0.048

Fasting glucose, mg/dl (mmol/l)

146.4 ± 35.4 (8.13 ± 1.97)

147.1 ± 34.7 (8.17 ± 1.93)

145.6 ± 36.3 (8.09 ± 2.02)

0.814

HbA1c, % (mmol/mol)

7.27 ± 0.88 (56.0 ± 9.6)

7.24 ± 0.81 (55.6 ± 8.8)

7.31 ± 0.95 (56.3 ± 10.4)

0.683

Total cholesterol, mg/dl (mmol/l)

181.2 ± 33.4 (4.68 ± 0.86)

191.3 ± 34.2 (4.94 ± 0.89)

171.2 ± 29.6 (4.43 ± 0.77)

0.001

LDL cholesterol, mg/dl (mmol/l)

101.1 ± 27.8 (2.62 ± 0.72)

100.9 ± 29.0 (2.61 ± 0.75)

101.4 ± 26.8 (2.62 ± 0.69)

0.930

HDL cholesterol, mg/dl (mmol/l)

53.3 ± 42.0 (1.38 ± 0.58)

73.5 ± 13.0 (1.90 ± 0.34)

33.5 ± 5.1 (0.86 ± 0.13)

–

Non-HDL cholesterol, mg/dl (mmol/l)

127.8 ± 31.9 (3.31 ± 0.83)

117.8 ± 31.6 (3.05 ± 0.82)

137.8 ± 29.3 (3.56 ± 0.76)

0.001

Triacylglycerol, mg/dl [mmol/l]

124.0 (75.0–194.0) [1.40 (0.85–2.19)]

81.0 (59.0–120.0) [0.92 (0.67–1.36)]

185.5 (131.2–237.7) [2.10 (1.48–2.69)]

0.0001

Creatinine, mg/dl (µmol/l)

0.90 ± 0.28 (79.6 ± 24.8)

0.80 ± 0.17 (70.8 ± 14.8)

1.00 ± 0.33 (88.4 ± 29.3)

0.0001

Uric acid, mg/dl (µmol/l)

5.35 ± 1.46 (318.2 ± 86.8)

4.83 ± 1.27 (287.2 ± 75.5)

5.88 ± 1.46 (349.7 ± 86.7)

0.0001

Albumin to creatinine ratio, mg/g

7.3 (3.9–18.8)

7.4 (4.6–13.7)

6.1 (3.4–36.4)

0.457

A/C ratio categories: < 30, 30–300, > 300 mg/g; n (%)

95/20/4 (79.8/16.8/3.4)

50/7/2 (84.7/11.9/3.4)

45/13/2 (75.0/21.7/3.3)

0.358

eGFR, CKD-EPI, ml/min/1.73 m²

82.5 ± 18.3

85.8 ± 14.7

79.2 ± 20.9

0.052

AST, U/L

22.0 ± 14.9

20.8 ± 11.6

23.2 ± 17.7

0.377

ALT, U/L

23.7 ± 14.3

21.2 ± 12.6

26.1 ± 15.6

0.063

GGT, U/L

32.6 ± 29.4

33.9 ± 33.6

31.2 ± 24.9

0.624

Smoking habits: no smokers, ex-smokers, current smokers, n (%)

63/33/23 (52.9/27.7/19.3)

39/16/4 (66.1/27.1/6.8)

24/17/19 (40.0/28.3/31.7)

0.001

Glucose lowering treatments

 Metformin, n (%)

97 (81.5)

48 (81.4)

49 (81.7)

0.965

 Sulphonilureas or glinides, n (%)

34 (28.6)

17 (28.8)

17 (28.3)

0.887

 Thiazolidinediones, n (%)

6 (5.0)

4 (6.8)

2 (3.3)

0.390

 DPP4 inhibitors, n (%)

36 (30.3)

15 (25.4)

21 (35.0)

0.256

 GLP-1 receptor agonists, n (%)

11 (9.2)

3 (5.1)

8 (13.3)

0.120

 Insulin, n (%)

35 (29.4)

19 (32.2)

16 (26.7)

0.507

BP-lowering treatments, n (%)

84 (70.6)

36 (61.0)

48 (80.0)

0.023

RAAS inhibitors, n (%)

70 (58.8)

32 (54.2)

38 (63.3)

0.313

Lipid-lowering treatments, n (%)

58 (48.7)

30 (50.8)

28 (46.7)

0.648

Non advanced retinopathy, n (%)

18 (15.1)

7 (11.9)

11 (18.3)

0.325

Major acute cardiovascular events (MACE), n (%)

21 (17.6)

7 (11.9)

14 (23.3)

0.101