Antibiotics may Raise Heart Disease Risk in Type 1 Diabetes Patients

Type 1 diabetes patients with bacterial infections are at higher risk of coronary heart disease, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

Among 3,781 individuals with type 1 diabetes, 370 developed coronary heart disease over an average follow-up of 13.7 years. Antibiotic purchases, reflecting bacterial infections in outpatient care, were significant risk factors for coronary heart disease, with a 21% increased risk for each annual antibiotic purchase.

‘Antibiotic purchases reflect bacterial infections among type 1 diabetes, which are significant risk factors for coronary heart disease.’

A high blood level of bacterial lipopolysaccharides (large molecules derived from the outer layer of gram-negative bacteria) was also a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

"In broader terms, the present study demonstrates how infections associate with the development of late diabetic complications and perhaps even more importantly, how infections associate with the development of coronary heart disease, as the latter relationship has been disputed during recent years," said lead author Johan Rasmus Simonsen, MD, of the Folkh�lsan Research Center, in Finland.

"Interestingly, in our study, this association to incident coronary heart disease was seen specifically with antibiotic purchases, making the potential pathophysiologic mechanisms behind this finding intriguing and warranting further studies."

Source: Eurekalert