Coronary triglyceride deposition in contemporary advanced diabetics

It is of importance to clarify pathophysiology of diabetic heart diseases such as heart failure and coronary artery disease. We reported a novel clinical phenotype called triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV), showing aberrant TG accumulation in both coronary arteries and myocardium, in a cardiac transplant recipient. Here, we examined autopsied diabetics for TG deposition in cardiovasculature. Consecutive series of hearts from advanced diabetes mellitus (DM) subjects (DM group: DMG, n = 20) and those from age- and sex-matched non-diabetic controls (non DM group: NDMG, n = 20) were examined. The diagnostic criteria of ‘advanced DM’ was made based on 2014 Clinical Practice Recommendations proposed by the American Diabetes Association. The mean duration of DM was 15.8 years. All DMG suffered from heart diseases including coronary artery diseases and 14 subjects had multi-vessel disease. Tissue TG contents were measured biochemically. Coronary arterial TG contents was significantly higher in DMG compared with NDMG. Spatial distribution of TG in transverse sections of coronary arteries showed TG deposition mainly in smooth muscle cells by Imaging Mass Spectrometry. Abundant TG deposition in coronary artery might be associated with advanced DM.