Oxidatively Damaged DNA/RNA and 8-Isoprostane Levels Are Associated With the Development of Type 2 Diabetes at Older Age: Results From a Large Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Oxidative stress is believed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes, but the few cohort studies that have assessed the association of oxidative stress biomarkers with type 2 diabetes incidence were small and reported inconclusive results.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We examined the associations of urinary oxidized guanine/guanosine (OxGua) levels (a biomarker of DNA/RNA oxidation) and urinary 8-isoprostane levels (a biomarker of lipid peroxidation) with type 2 diabetes incidence in 7,828 individuals initially without diabetes from a population-based German cohort study with 14 years of follow-up. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs per 1 SD were obtained using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models.

RESULTS: In the total population, weak but statistically significant associations with type 2 diabetes incidence were observed for OxGua (HR [95% CI] per 1 SD 1.05 [1.01; 1.09]) and 8-isoprostane (1.04 [1.00; 1.09]) levels. Stratified analyses showed that associations of both biomarkers with type 2 diabetes incidence were absent in the youngest age-group (50-59 years) and strongest in the oldest age-group (65-75 years) of the cohort, with HRs of OxGua levels of 1.14 (1.05; 1.23) per 1 SD and of 8-isoprostane levels of 1.22 (1.02; 1.45) per 1 SD.

CONCLUSIONS: These results from a large cohort study support suggestions that an imbalanced redox system contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes but suggest that this association becomes clinically apparent at older ages only, possibly as a result of reduced cellular repair capacity.