Association Between Plasma Triglycerides and High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Microvascular Kidney Disease and Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background—Microvascular renal and retinal diseases are common major complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The relation between plasma lipids and microvascular disease is not well established. Methods and Results—The case subjects were 2535 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an average duration of 14 years, 1891 of whom had kidney disease and 1218 with retinopathy. The case subjects were matched for diabetes mellitus duration, age, sex, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol to 3683 control subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus who did not have kidney disease or retinopathy. The study was conducted in 24 sites in 13 countries. The primary analysis included kidney disease and retinopathy cases. Matched analysis was performed by use of site-specific conditional logistic regression in multivariable models that adjusted for hemoglobin A1c, hypertension, and statin treatment. Mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration was 2.3 mmol/L. The microvascular disease odds ratio increased by...