Prevalence of primary aldosteronism among patients with type 2 diabetes.

CONTEXT: Diabetes and hypertension coexist in 40%-60% of individuals with type 2 diabetes. The coexistence of these two conditions is associated with increased risk of retinopathy, nephropathy and cardiovascular disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of primary aldosteronism (PA) in a general cohort of persons with type 2 diabetes.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study involving six diabetes outpatient clinics in Sweden.

PATIENTS: were enrolled individuals with type 2 diabetes between February 2008 and December 2013.

MEASUREMENTS: Plasma aldosterone concentrations (PAC pmol/L) and direct renin concentrations (DRC mIU/L) were measured. Patients with increased aldosterone renin ratios (ARR) >65 were further evaluated for PA.

RESULTS: Of 578 consecutively screened patients with type 2 diabetes, 27 were treated with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA) and potassium-sparing diuretics not further evaluated. Among the remaining 551 patients, 38 had increased ARR, including 22 who were clinically indicated for PA tests and 16 who were not further evaluated due to severe comorbidities and old age. There were five (0.93%) patients with confirmed PA after computerized tomography and adrenal venous sampling. Patients with PA had higher systolic blood pressure (P=.032) and lower potassium levels (P=.027) than those without PA. No significant association was found between plasma aldosterone and diabetic complications.

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of PA in an unselected cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes is relatively low, and measures of plasma aldosterone are not strong risk factors for micro- and macrovascular diabetic complications.