Correlation between biopterin levels and intimal-media thickness in type-2 diabetic hypertensive patients

摘要

Background Biopterins have a crucial role in the function of nitric oxide synthase, uncoupling of the enzyme leads to endothelial dysfunction and vascular damage, The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the levels of biopterins with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in hypertensive type-2 diabetic patients. Methods We studied 30 hypertensive type-2 diabetic patients and 30 normotensive non-diabetic age-matched subjects, in whom biopterins levels were measured by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Additionally, the CIMT of both the common and internal carotid arteries was measured. The levels of biopterins and CIMT were correlated using the Pearson correlation coefficient test. Results We did not find a significantly correlation between biopterins levels and CIMT. However, we found a significantly inverse correlation between the BH4/BH2 ratio and the CIMT in patients (r?=?-0.54, p?