A Comparative Study of Plasma N-Terminal Pro- Brain Natriuretic Peptide to Assess Asymptomatic Cardiovascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Background: This study aimed to assess NT-pro BNP level in patients of T2DM without overt cardiovascular disease to determine presence of Asymptomatic Left Ventricular Dysfunction (ALVD) compared with matched control group. Methods: This study conducted at SMS Hospital, Jaipur by selecting 60 patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus and 60 control of non-diabetic population. Information regarding demographic data, clinical symptoms, past medical history, laboratory parameters, NT pro-BNP and 2D Echocardiography collected from selected sample population for comparative analysis among both groups. Results: Patients of T2DM have significantly higher value of NT pro-BNP, blood sugar and HbA1c with proportionally increased diastolic dysfunction as compared to matched non-diabetic population (P<0.05). Absolute value of NT pro-BNP in patients of T2DM is directly correlated with age, duration of diabetes, Blood pressure, blood sugar level, HbA1c level, creatinine, total cholesterol and urine protein (positive correlation coefficient with P-value<0.05). Left ventricular ejection fractions were found statistically similar among both groups. Conclusion: Heart failure in patients with T2DM is a most crucial diabetic complication for diagnosis as well as management. Level of NT-pro BNP in blood stream is an important tool for early diagnosis of heart failure especially HFpEF. This study suggests that the secretion of NT-pro BNP is increased in patients with T2DM compared with control subject without overt heart disease. Therefore, measurement of NT-pro BNP paired might be a simple screening tool to identify patients with diabetes at risk for ventricular dysfunction requiring further examination with echocardiography.