Carotid intima-media thickness and plagues are associated with indicators of peripheral artery diseases in patients with diabetes

Aims: We investigated associations of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid plaque with ankle-brachial index (ABI) and toe-brachial index (TBI) in Chinese adults. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed in 6688 participants from a well-defined Chinese community. CIMT and carotid plaque was measured with a high-resolution B-mode tomographic ultrasound system. Low ABI was defined as ABI ≤ 0.90. Low TBI was defined as TBI ≤ 0.60. Carotid plaques were classified as normal, homogeneous or heterogeneous according to morphology. Results: After adjusting for age, sex and body mass index, each 0.10 mm CIMT increase was associated with 0.0123 unit decrease in TBI (P = 0.004) and 0.0063 in ABI (P = 0.04) in patients with diabetes. After further adjustments for waist circumference, smoking and drinking habits, hypertension, lipids and hemoglobin A1c, the associations between CIMT and TBI remained significant; while those with ABI were disappeared. Meanwhile, each 0.10 mm increment of CIMT or rank of carotid plaque morphology was associated with a risk of presence of low TBI (CIMT: odds ratio: 1.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.05–1.40; carotid plaque morphology: 1.45, 1.01–2.08) in patients with diabetes after adjustments. However, no associations were found between CIMT or carotid plaque morphology and TBI or ABI in non-diabetic participants. Conclusions: CIMT and carotid plaque morphology were significantly associated with TBI in patients with diabetes.

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