Genetic and metabolic risk factors for the development of complications of type II diabetes mellitus (DM)

A common feature of type II diabetes is increased atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most important cause of mortality. Microangiopathic complications are less important in type II than in type I DM. Everyday experience suggests that the complications do not affect all diabetics to the same extent, and their development often is not associated with metabolic control. This has led to suppose that the genetic background might influence the development of complications. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the possible role of some genetic markers [family history (FH) of diabetes and associated diseases, chlorpropamide alcohol flush (CPAF), acetylator phenotype (AP)] and metabolic factors, in the development of late complications in type II DM.