Table 1.
Clinical and biochemical characteristics of controls and diabetic patients.
| Parameters | Diabetes mellitus (n. 22) | Diabetes mellitus and hypertension (n. 23) | Controls (n. 22) |
| Age (years) | 52 ± 7 | 53 ± 8 | 53 ± 5 |
| Obesity (%) | 18 | 21 | 0 |
| Hypertension (%) | 0 | 100 | 0 |
| Hypercholesterolemia (%) | 14 | 22 | 0** |
| Smoking (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Family history of myocardial ischemia (%) | 15 | 17 | 8† |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 127 ± 5§ | 138 ± 14** | 120 ± 14 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 81 ± 7§§ | 82 ± 9** | 75 ± 7 |
| Heart rate (bpm) | 75 ± 7** | 76 ± 10** | 67 ± 8 |
| Mean diabetes duration (months) | 40 ± 18 | 36 ± 15 | - |
| Fasting glucose (mg/dL) | 167 ± 36§§ | 138 ± 25 | 87 ± 8 |
| HbA1c (%) | 7.7 ± 2.2 | 7.0 ± 1.0 | 3.7 ± 2.2 |
| Oral hypoglycaemic agents (%) | 77 | 74 | 0 |
| Diet therapy (%) | 23 | 26 | 0 |
| Anti-hypertensive theraphy (%) | |||
| ACE-inhibitor | 9 | 65 | - |
| Angiotensin receptor antagonist | - | 22 | - |
| Diuretics | - | 22 | - |
| Calcium channel blockers | - | 22 | - |
| Beta-blockers | - | 17 | - |
**p < 0.01 diabetics vs controls; §p < 0.02 diabetic-normotensive patients vs diabetic-hypertensive patients; §§p < 0.03 diabetic-normotensive patients vs diabetic-hypertensive patients. HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin.