Blood pressure may be sodium-dependent in diabetic patients without overt nephropathy.

Abstract

We studied 29 normotensive diabetic patients free of long-term complications (13 insulin requiring and 16 noninsulin requiring), and 54 normotensive control subjects. No diabetic patient had overt nephropathy (in all 24 h urinary albumin excretion was <0.5G and Albustix was negative), but 24 h urinary albumin excretion was significantly higher than in control subjects in both insulin requiring and non-insulin requiring patients.