Clinical characteristics of primary aldosteronism in newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus with hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the prevalence of primary aldosteronism (PA) in newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension and to compare clinical differences between newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus with essential hypertension (EH) and PA, and to explore the relationship between plasm aldosterone concentration (PAC) and clinical biochemical variables.

METHODS

A total of 270 newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension were prospectively enrolled in this study. All patients were screened for PA. The positive patients in the screening test were further confirmed by captopril challenge test (CCT) to determine the prevalence of PA. Clinical biochemical indexes were detected.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PA in 270 newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension was 18.5%. Compared with patients in the EH group, patients in the PA group had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), PAC, aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR), and carbondioxide binding force, but lower plasma renin activity (PRA) and serum potassium. Correlation analysis showed that the PAC was positively correlated with homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in the EH group (r=0.139, P<0.05), but the correlation was not found in the PA group. Compared with patients with SBP<140 mmHg, patients with SBP≥160 mmHg had the significantly decreased PRA and potassium (P<0.05, P<0.001, respectively), but increased ARR and proportion in the PA patients (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of PA is relatively high in newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension. Patients with hypertension above grade 2 should be actively screened for aldosterone. Newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension combined with PA has a higher hypertension compared with the patients without PA.In newly diagnosed diabetic patients with hypertension, PAC may be related to insulin resistance.