Elevated copeptin, arterial stiffness, and elevated albumin excretion in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate copeptin concentrations in adolescents with and without type 1 diabetes (T1D) and examine the associations between copeptin and measures of arterial stiffness and kidney dysfunction. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This analysis included 169 adolescents with T1D (12-19 years of age, 59% girls, mean HbA1c 9.0 +/- 1.5% and diabetes duration of 8.6 +/- 2.9 years), in addition to 61 controls without T1D. Arterial stiffness including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), carotid-radial PWV (CR-PWV), augmentation index normalized to heart rate of 75 bpm (AIx@HR75), and brachial artery distensibility (BAD). Serum copeptin, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by serum creatinine and cystatin C were also assessed. RESULTS: Compared to controls, adolescents with T1D had higher median (Q1-Q3) copeptin (7.5 [5.2-11.3] vs 6.4 [4.8-8.3] pmol/L, P = .01), mean +/- SD eGFR (121 +/- 23 vs 112 +/- 16 mL/min/1.73m(2) , P = .002) and lower BAD (7.1 +/- 1.3 vs 7.2 +/- 1.2%, P = .02). Adolescents with T1D in the in high tertile copeptin group (>9.1 pmol/L) had higher AIx@HR75 (10.7 +/- 1.2 vs 5 +/- 1.2, P = .001), CR-PWV (5.30 +/- 1.0 vs 5.18 +/- 1.0 m/s, P = .04), and UACR (12 +/- 1 vs 8 +/- 1 mg/g, P = .025) compared to those in low tertile (<5.8 pmol/L) after adjusting for age, sex, and eGFR. Copeptin inversely associated with CF-PWV independent of age, sex, eGFR, SBP, and HbA1c in T1D adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that elevated copeptin was associated with worse arterial stiffness in adolescents with T1D. These findings suggest that copeptin could improve CVD risk stratification in adolescents with T1D.