321-OR: Differential Associations of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome with Polyneuropathy in Early Type 2 Diabetes and Normal Glucose Tolerance

There is increasing evidence for a role of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) during development of distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). We hypothesized that MetS components are differentially associated with measures of DSPN in individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and early type 2 diabetes (T2D). Electrophysiological and quantitative sensory testing was performed in 180 participants with NGT and 355 with recent-onset T2D (known diabetes duration <1 year) matched for age from the German Diabetes Study (NGT/T2D [mean±SD]: age: 43.9±14.0/45.1±7.7 years; sex: 61/65% male; BMI: 26.8±5.0/32.3±6.5 kg/m²; HbA1c: 5.2±0.3/6.5±1.0%). Intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) was assessed in 218 individuals (NGT/T2D: n=117/101). Subsets of participants were followed for 5 years (NGT/T2D: n=48/53). MetS was defined according to International Diabetes Federation (2006) and DSPN according to Toronto consensus criteria (2011). After adjustment for age, sex, height, smoking and HbA1c, a lower IENFD was associated with higher weight (β=-0.306), number of MetS components (NMetSC; β=-0.222) and presence of central obesity (β=-0.292), while higher malleolar vibration perception threshold was associated with weight (β=0.219) in NGT (P<0.05), but not in T2D. Median motor nerve conduction velocity and sural sensory nerve action potential were inversely associated with weight (β=-0.182/-0.286), NMetSC (β=-0.127/-0.128), presence of central obesity (β=-0.163/-0.165), and MetS (β=-0.169/-0.203) in T2D (P<0.05). Higher weight predicted the presence of DSPN at 5 years (β=0.652, P=0.001) in NGT, while increasing NMetSC and MetS prevalence predicted a decline in IENFD over 5 years (β=-0.533/-0.388, P=0.001/0.013) in T2D. This suggests that obesity indices can predict DSPN over 5 years in NGT, while MetS and its components are differentially associated with measures of DSPN in early, well-controlled type 2 diabetes compared with NGT. Disclosure G.Sipola: None. A.Strom: None. M.Bombrich: None. R.Wagner: Advisory Panel; Daiichi Sankyo, Speaker's Bureau; Novo Nordisk, Sanofi. D.Ziegler: None. M.Roden: Advisory Panel; Eli Lilly and Company, Consultant; TARGET PharmaSolutions, Inc., Research Support; Boehringer-Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Sanofi. G.J.Bönhof: None. Gds group: n/a. Funding German Federal Ministry of Health; Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the state North Rhine-Westphalia; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research