Urinary Markers of Nucleic Acid Oxidation and Long-Term Mortality of Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE-We analyzed data from a cohort of 1,381 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients to test the hypothesis that urinary markers of nucleic acid oxidation are independent predictors of mortality. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-We examined the relationship between urinary excretion of markers of DNA oxidation (8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine [8-oxodG]) and RNA oxidation (8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine [8-oxoGuol) and long-term mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS-After multivariate adjustment, the hazard ratios for all-cause and diabetes-related mortality of patients with 8-oxoGuo levels in the highest quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile were 1.44(1.12-1.85) and 1.54(1.13-2.10), respectively. Conversely, no significant associations between 8-oxodG and mortality were found in the adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS-Urinary excretion of the RNA oxidation marker 8-oxoGuo measured shortly after diagnosis of type 2 diabetes predicts long-term mortality independently of conventional risk factors. This finding suggests that 8-oxoGuo could serve as a new clinical biomarker in diabetes.