Coronary inflammation based on pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation in type 2 diabetic mellitus: effect of diabetes management

Abstract Background Coronary inflammation plays crucial role in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) induced cardiovascular complications. Both glucose-lowering drug interventions (GLDIS) and glycemic control (GC) status potentially correlate coronary inflammation, as indicated by changes in pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation, and thus influence cardiovascular risk. This study evaluated the impact of GLDIS and GC status on PCAT attenuation in T2DM patients. Methods This retrospective study collected clinical data and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images of 1,342 patients, including 547 T2DM patients and 795 non-T2DM patients in two tertiary hospitals. T2DM patients were subgroup based on two criteria: (1) GC status: well: HbA1c 9%; (2) GLDIS and non-GLDIS. PCAT attenuations of the left anterior descending artery (LAD-PCAT), left circumflex artery (LCX-PCAT), and right coronary artery (RCA-PCAT) were measured. Propensity matching (PSM) was used to cross compare PCAT attenuation of non-T2DM and all subgroups of T2DM patients. Linear regressions were conducted to evaluate the impact of GC status and GLDIS on PCAT attenuation in T2DM patients. Results Significant differences were observed in RCA-PCAT and LCX-PCAT between poor GC-T2DM and non-T2DM patients (LCX: − 68.75 ± 7.59 HU vs. – 71.93 ± 7.25 HU, p = 0.008; RCA: − 74.37 ± 8.44 HU vs. − 77.2 ± 7.42 HU, p = 0.026). Higher PCAT attenuation was observed in LAD-PCAT, LCX-PCAT, and RCA-PCAT in non-GLDIS T2DM patients compared with GLDIS T2DM patients (LAD: − 78.11 ± 8.01 HU vs. − 75.04 ± 8.26 HU, p = 0.022; LCX: − 71.10 ± 8.13 HU vs. − 68.31 ± 7.90 HU, p = 0.037; RCA: − 78.17 ± 8.64 HU vs. − 73.35 ± 9.32 HU, p = 0.001). In the linear regression, other than sex and duration of diabetes, both metformin and acarbose were found to be significantly associated with lower LAD-PCAT (metformin: β coefficient = − 2.476, p=0.021; acarbose: β coefficient = − 1.841, p = 0.031). Conclusion Inadequate diabetes management, including poor GC and lack of GLDIS, may be associated with increased coronary artery inflammation in T2DM patients, as indicated by PCAT attenuation on CCTA, leading to increased cardiovascular risk. This finding could help healthcare providers identify T2DM patients with increased cardiovascular risk, develop improved cardiovascular management programs, and reduce subsequent cardiovascular related mortality.