Aims  

We examined the association between lipoprotein (Lp)(a) and CHD among women with type 2 diabetes.

Methods  

Of 32,826 women from the Nurses Health Study who provided blood at baseline, we followed 921 who had a confirmed diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Results  

During 10 years of follow-up (6,835 person-years), we documented 122 incident cases of CHD. After adjustment for age, smoking, BMI, glycosylated HbA₁c, triglycerides (TGs), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk factors, the relative risk (RR) comparing extreme quintiles of Lp(a) was 1.95 (95% CI 1.07–3.56). The association was not appreciably altered after further adjustment for apolipoprotein B₁₀₀ or several inflammatory biomarkers. Increasing levels of Lp(a) were associated with lower levels of TGs. The probability of developing CHD over 10 years was higher among diabetic women with substantially higher levels of both Lp(a) (>1.07 mol/l) and TGs (>2.26 mmol/l) than among diabetic women with lower levels (22 vs 10%, p log-rank test=0.049). Diabetic women with a higher level of only Lp(a) or TGs had a similar (14%) risk. In a multivariate model, diabetic women with higher levels of Lp(a) and TGs had an RR of 2.46 (95% CI 1.21–5.01) for developing CHD, as compared with those with lower levels of both biomarkers (p for interaction=0.413). The RRs for women with a higher level of either Lp(a) (RR=1.22, 95% CI 0.77–1.92) or TGs (RR=1.39, 95% CI 0.78–2.42) were comparable.

Conclusions/interpretation  

Increased levels of Lp(a) were independently associated with risk of CHD among diabetic women.