259-OR: Arterial Stiffness and Diabetes-Associated Complications in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study

Arterial stiffness and vascular complications contribute to the burden of disease in diabetes, and it is unclear how they relate to each other. The relationship between arterial stiffness, an early marker of cardiovascular disease, and microvascular complications has not been comprehensively assessed in youth-onset diabetes. This study included 1226 individuals (mean age 22.8 years, 58% female, 53% Non-Hispanic White, 22% Non-Hispanic Black, 20% Hispanic) with type 1 (n=999) and type 2 (n=227) diabetes. Arterial stiffness measures included pulse wave velocity for carotid-femoral (PWVcf), carotid-radial (PWVcr), and femoral-foot (PWVff) and augmentation index (AIx). Microvascular complications included diabetic kidney disease, peripheral neuropathy, and retinopathy. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between arterial stiffness and microvascular complications. PWVcf and AIx were associated with higher odds of having any microvascular complication, p<0.05 (Table). PWVcf, PWVff, and AIx were each associated with diabetic kidney disease. PWVcf was associated with peripheral neuropathy and PWVcr and AIx were associated with retinopathy. Arterial stiffness is related to diabetes microvascular complications in youth-onset diabetes. Future work will determine whether arterial stiffness is a marker for early onset and progression of microvascular complications.