Metabolic syndrome and albuminuria show an additive effect in modulating glomerular filtration rate in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background Although metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) or albuminuria (MA) most often occurs in concomitance in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients (T2DM), their mode of interaction in increasing the risk of low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) has been poorly investigated. Objective We evaluated in a cohort of 1659 T2DM patients the relationship between MetSyn and MA in modulating the risk for low GFR. The risk of developing low GFR by graded number of MetSyn traits was also evaluated. Methods This was a cross-sectional study where 1659 T2DM patients were studied. Low GFR was defined as estimated-GFR (e-GFR) Results e-GFR progressively decreased from 91 ± 25 of patients MetSyn−MA−, to 82 ± 27 of patients MetSyn−MA+, 81 ± 24 of patients MetSyn+MA− and 76 ± 30 ml min−1 × 1.73 m−2 of patients MetSyn+MA+ (adjusted p Conclusions MetSyn or MA has an additive effect in increasing the risk of having low GFR in patients with T2DM. Furthermore, e-GFR is negatively affected by graded number of MetSyn traits independently of albuminuria.